Received 


7  S7J~ 


THE 


COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL: 


BEING   A 


COMPILATION  OF  FACTS 


FROM  THE  BEST  AUTHORITIES 


ON   THE 


CULTURE    OF    COTTON; 


ITS    NATURAL    HISTORY,    CHEMICAL    ANALYSIS, 
TRADE,    AND    CONSUMPTION; 


AND  EMBRACING  A 


HISTORY  OF  COTTON  AND  THE  COTTON  GIN. 


BY    J.    A.    TURNER. 

I    « 


NEW-YORK : 
ORANGE    JUDD    &    COMPANY, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 
M.  8AXTON  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tho  United  States,  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  book  is  a  compilation.  It  makes  no  pretensions  what- 
ever to  originality.  All  compilations  must,  from  the  very 
nature  of  things,  be  imperfect ;  therefore  this  book  is  imper- 
fect. One  of  two  plans  I  had  to  adopt,  either  to  write  an 
entirely  original  work,  or  compile  one  from  the  writings  of 
others.  Ha<£.-I.  adopted  the  former  plan,  I  might,  it  is  true, 
have  produced  a  more  compact  work,  a  more  systematic 
treatise,  in  a  more  uniform  style ;  but  it  is  a  question  whether 
I  would  have  made  so  valuable  a  volume  as  the  one  I  present 
you.  What  might  have  been  gained  in  the  graces  of  composi- 
tion, or  the  system  of  a  well-digested  treatise,  might  have 
been  lost  in  my  want  of  experience  in  all  the  departments  I 
have  presented  you,  to  make  a  proper  volume.  It  is  quite 
easy  to  fill  a  given  number  of  pages,  but  to  make  those  pages 
useful  and  practical,  is  quite  another  thing.  I  thought  it  best, 
therefore,  because  it  would  be  more  useful  to  cotton  planters, 
to  compile  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject  of  which  I  treat. 

The  difficulties  of  selecting  from  such  a  mass  of  writings  as 
I  have  had  before  me,  and  of  so  arranging  the  selections  when 
made,  as  to  form  of  them  a  compact  volume,  will  be  appreciat- 
ed by  every  one — especially  by  those  who  have  had  ex- 
perience in  compiling  j  and  yet  I  must  be  permitted  to  say 


IV  PREFACE. 

that  I  think  I  have  so  far  succeeded  in  the  task  I  undertook, 
as  to  have  given  you  all  the  most  important  knowledge  which 
has  been  arrived  at,  with  reference  to  the  culture,  consump~ 
tion,  and  trade  of  one  of  the  most  important  staples  produced 
in  the  wide  fields  of  agricultural  labor.  Not  only  is  this  an 
important  book  to  the  cotton  planter,  but  to  almost  every 
class  it  will  bear  knowledge  which  it  will  be  useful  to  have. 
The  general  reader  will  find  in  its  pages  many  things  with 
which  he  would  be  pleased  to  be  acquainted. 

This  book  is  divided  into  eight  chapters,  as  follows : 

I.  THE  ORDINARY  METHODS  OF  COTTON  CULTURE. 
II.  DR.  N.  B,  CLOUD'S   IMPROVED   SYSTEM  OF  COTTON 
CULTURE. 

III.  THE  NATURAL   HISTORY  OF   COTTON — ITS   SPECIES 

AND  VARIETIES, 

IV.  DISEASES   AND   INSECTS  DESTRUCTIVE  OF   GROWTH 

OF  COTTON. 

V.  ANALYSES  OF  THE  COTTON  PLANT,  WITH  SUGGESTIONS 
AS  TO  MANURES,  ETC. 

VI.  THE  CONSUMPTION  OF  COTTON — USES  OF  THE  VARI- 
OUS PARTS  OF  THE  PLANT — THE  COTTON  TRADE 

FROM  1825  TO  1850.     BY  PROF.  McKAY. 
VII.  THE  COTTON  TRADE  FROM  1850  TO  1855. 
VIII,  HISTORY  OF  COTTON  AND  THE  COTTON  Gi\. 

In  a  compilation  such  as  this,  it  will  not  be  surprising  if 
the  different  chapters  sometimes  run  into  each  other ;  that  is, 


PREFACE.  V 

in  some  of  the  articles  which  are  published  under  one  head, 
there  may  be  found  some  things  which  would  more  appro- 
priately fall  under  another  head.  The  locality  of  each 
article,  however,  had  to  be  determined  by  the  complexion  of 
the  major  part  of  that  article. 

It  will  be  seen  that  I  have  given  the  article  of  Professor 
McKay,  on  the  cotton  trade,  from  the  year  1825  to  1850,  both 
inclusive.  Then  follows  a  document,  compiled  in  the  State 
Department  of  the  United  States,  which  takes  up  the  cotton 
trade  where  Professor  McKay  left  it,  and  brings  it  down  to 
the  year  1855. 

The  articles  which  go  to  make  up  this  volume,  I  have  com- 
piled from  various  sources.  I  am  under  particular  obligations 
to  the  Southern  Cultivator,  Soil  of  the  South,  and  American 
Cotton  Planter — especially  the  first. 

Errors  have,  in  all  probability,  crept  into  this  work.  I  in- 
vite communications  from  the  pens  of  my  brother  planters,  so 
that  I  may  make  a  more  complete  treatise  in  a  future  edition 
of  this  book,  or  another  volume. 

I  trust  that  the  planting  interest  of  the  South  will  liberally 
patronize  the  publishers  who  have  so  liberally  stepped  forward 
to  give  them  the  first  volume  ever  published  on  the  culture 
of  their  all-imporlaut  staple. 

J.  A.  TURNER. 

Turnwold,  Putnam  Co.,  G'a., 
Dec.  10,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

THE   ORDINARY  METHODS  OF   COTTON  CULTURE. 

1.  Chambers^  Premium  Essay  on  the  Culture  of  Cotton.  2.  Ex-Gov.  Hammond's  Ke- 
port  on  Cotton,  with  a  Note  from  the  South-Western  Farmer.  3.  "Colo"  to  Hon. 
John  C.  Calhoun,  on  the  Culture  of  Cotton.  4.  Dr.  M.  "W.  Philips's  Four  Numbers  on 
the  Culture  of  Cotton.  5.  "Wm.  Summer's  Keport  on  Cotton.  6.  Report  of  the  Union 
(8.  C.)  Agricultural  Society  on  Cotton,  .........  11—52 

CHAPTEK  II. 

DR.  N.  B.  CLOUD'S  IMPROVED  SYSTEM  OF  COTTON  CULTURE. 

1.  Method  of  Manuring,  Planting  and  Tilling.  2.  The  Principles  and  Philosophy  of 
the  System.  8.  Experiments  in  Manuring.  4.  System  of  Eotation  in  Cotton  Culture. 
5.  System  of  Eotation  in  Cotton  Culture  continued.  6.  Compost  Manure,  Stock- 
Yard,  etc.,  68-93 

CHAPTER  m 

NATURAL   HISTORY   OF   COTTON — ITS   SPECIES  AND  VARIE- 
TIES. 

1.  Different  Species  of  Cotton.  2.  The  Cotton  Plant— Sea  Island  Cotton.  8.  Varieties 
of  Cotton  Seed.  By  Dr.  Philips.  4.  Sugar  Loaf  Cotton.  5.  Dr.  Philips  on  Improved 
Cotton  Seed.  6.  Dr.  Philips  on  Improved  Cotton  Seed  continued.  7.  Banana  Cotton 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Seed.  8.  Silk  Cotton.  9.  Multiflora  Cotton— Money -Bush.  10.  Dr.  Philips  on  Varieties 
of  Cotton  Seed.  11.  Scraper  and  Cotton  Seed.  12.  The  Different  Varieties  of  Cotton 
Seed.  13.  Cotton  Seed  Speculations.  14.  Agricultural  Humbugs.  15.  Sea  Island 
Cotton  Planting.  16.  Sea  Island  Cotton  Statistics.  17.  Sea  Island  Cotton  Planting. 

94—186 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

DISEASES  AND  INSECTS  DESTKUCTIVE  OF  THE  COTTON 
PLANT. 

1.  De  Bow's  Beview  on  the  Cotton  "Worm.  2.  Professor  Harper  on  the  Eust.  8.  The 
Boll- Worm.  4.  Cut- Worm.  5.  Destroying  the  Cotton-Moth.  6.  The  Boll-Worm  and 
"Sore  Shin"  in  Cotton.  7.  Birds  vs.  Insects.  8.  Another  Plea  for  the  Birds.  91  Red 
Eust  and  Brown  Eust.  10.  "Blue  Cotton."  11.  The  Dry  Eot  in  Cotton.  12.  Kot  in 
Cotton, 13T— 182 


CHAPTER  Y. 

ANALYSES  OF  THE  COTTON  PLANT,  WITH  SUGGESTIONS  AS 
TO   MANURES,  ETC. 

1.  Shepard's  Analysis  of  Cotton  Seed  and  Cotton  "Wool.  2.  Analysis  of  the  Cotton 
Plant  and  Seed,  with  Suggestions  as  to  management,  etc.  By  Thomas  J.  Summer. 
8.  Eeport  on  the  Analysis  of  Cotton  and  its  Soil.  By  Messrs.  Higgins  and  Bickell. 

183-215 

CHAPTER  VI. 

COTTON  CONSUMPTION  AND  COTTON  TRADE— COTTON  TRADE 
FROM  1825  TO  1850.  BY  PROFESSOR  MCKAY,  LATE  OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA. 

1.  Cotton  Bagging.  2.  Cotton  Beds— A  good  suggestion.  3.  A  New  Use  for  Cotton. 
4.  Domestic  Bagging  and  Blankets.  5.  Cotton  Rigging  for  Ships.  6.  Paper  from  the 
Bark  of  Cotton.  7.  Cotton  Seed  Oil.  8.  Cotton  Seed  as  a  Manure.  9.  Feeding  Hogs 
with  Cotton  Seed.  10.  Cotton  Seed.  11.  Feeding  Sheep  on  Cotton  Seed.  12.  Cotton 
Seed  as  Food  for  Stock.  13.  The  Cotton  Trade  from  1825  to  1850.  By  Professor  McKay. 
14.  Cotton  Stalk  Hemp, 216—243 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTEE   VII. 

LETTER  FROM  THE  SECRETARY   OF  STATE, 

Transmitting  a  Statement  respecting  the  Tariff  Duties  and  Custom-house  Regulations, 
applicable  to  American  Cotton,  etc.,  ...  .....  249—276 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

HISTORY  OF  COTTON  AND  THE    COTTON  GIN. 

1.  Brief  History  of  Cotton.  2.  Thomas  Spalding  on  the  Cotton  Gin  and  the  Introduc- 
tion of  Cotton.  8.  Nathan  Lyons.  4.  Origin  of  the  Cotton  Gin.  5.  Statistics  of  Cotton. 
6.  Cotton  Gin  and  Packing  Screws.  7.  History  of  the  Cotton  Gin.  8.  Eli  Whitney. 

277-820 


COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL 


CHAPTER     I. 

SECTION  i. — CHAMBERS'  PREMIUM  ESSAY. 

THE  following  "  Essay  on  the  Treatment  and  Cultivation 
of  Cotton,"  was  read  before  the  Southern  Central  Agricultu- 
ral Association  of  Georgia,  in  1852,  by  Col.  James  M.  Cham- 
bers, then  editor  of  the  "  Soil  of  the  South"  an  agricultural 
journal,  published  in  Columbus,  Ga.  It  took  the  premium 
which  was  offered  by  the  Association  for  the  best  Essay  on 
the  subject  of  which  it  treats.  No  more  fitting  article  could 
be  found  with  which  to  open  this  work.  Col.  Chambers  is  an 
intelligent  man,  and  has  always  been  an  eminently  practical 
and  successful  planter.  Implicit  confidence  may  be  placed  in 
his  views. 

The  cotton  plant  is  hard  to  be  suited,  in  soil  and  in  climate, 
and  it  rarely  happens  that  such  a  combination  of  both  is  ob- 
tained, as  to  perfect  the  plant  and  mature  the  crop.  The 
consequence  is,  that  few  spots  are  found,  where  these  results 
are  obtained  with  any  degree  -of  uniform  success ;  but  these 
do  exist,  to  just  such  an  extent  as  to  demonstrate  most  con- 
clusively that  soils  in  proper  localities  are  to  be  found,  exactly 
suited  to  the  successful  culture  of  this  delicate  plant.  With  a 

in] 


12  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

knowledge  of  this  fact,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  prime  import- 
ance, to  understand  what  these  peculiarities  of  soil  are,  and 
where  deficiencies  exist,  to  search  them  out — and  by  artificial 
means,  as  far  as  it  may  be  practicable,  to  correct  or  cure  these 
defects  of  the  soil  in  its  natural  state.  We  may  not  hope  to 
remedy  all  the  imperfections,  yet  it  is  the  province  of  the  cul- 
tivator to  approximate  as  nearly  as  possible,  and  by  prepara- 
tion and  culture,  to  endeavor  to  meet  these  peculiar  wants  of 
the  plant.  The  first  inquiry  which  presents  itself  is,  to  know 
what  are  the  peculiarities  of  those  soils  which  suit  the  growth 
and  maturity  of  cotton.  Experience  is  perhaps  the  safest  and 
most  reliable  test,  in  the  settlement  of  this  question,  and  it  is 
now  pretty  universally  conceded,  that  our  best  cotton  lands 
are  those  which  are  of  deep  and  soft  mold,  a  sort  of  medium 
between  the  sandy  and  spongy,  and  those  soils  which  are  hard 
and  close — those  which  are  penetrated  by  the  warming  rays 
of  the  sun,  imbibing  readily  the  stimulating  gases  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  which  allow  the  excess  of  rain  water  to  settle 
so  deep  into  the  earth,  as  to  lie  at  a  harmless  distance  below 
the  roots  of  the  young  plant.  These  are  the  properties  of  soil 
needful  to  the  vigorous  growth  and  early  maturity  of  the  cotton 
plant ;  and  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  is  of  great,  and  perhaps 
I  might  add,  indispensable  importance,  to  its  successful  cul- 
tivation. For  though  we  may  not  find,  and  indeed  it  is  very 
improbable  that  we  should  often  find,  all  these  essentials  in 
the  selection  of  a  farm,  yet  by  the  aid  of  the  plough,  the  hoe, 
and  the  spade,  and  the  incorporation  of  foreign  substances,  we 
may  remedy  many  defects,  and  supply  many  of  the  peculiar 
demands  of  this  plant.  These  are  all  preliminaries  to  be 
arranged  and  understood,  and  from  this  point,  we  set  out  to 
discuss  the  question,  as  to  the  best  methods  of  cultivating  the 
cotton  crop.  It  may  already  have  been  inferred,  but  I  am 
not  willing  to  leave  it  to  inference,  but  make  the  assertion, 


CHAMBERS'  PREMIUM  ESSAY.  13 

that  in  my  opinion,  the  best  and  most  important  part  of  tho 
work,  in  cotton  making,  consists  in  a  judicious  and  proper 
preparation  of  the  soil  for  planting.  It  is  difficult  to  say  in 
all  cases,  and  in  the  varied  condition  in  which  lands  are  found, 
and  the  diversity  of  soils,  what  the  process  of  preparation 
should  be;  but  we  may  lay  down  general  principles  for  our 
government,  and  results  to  be  obtained,  and  leave  the  planters 
to  the  selection  of  the  best  means  at  command  for  their  accom- 
plishment. All  lands  for  cotton,  ought,  before  the  crop  is 
planted,  to  be  broken  deep,  close  and  soft,  and  this  to  be  done 
long  enough  before  planting,  to  allow  the  rains  gently  to  settle 
them.  It  is  the  most  common,  and  perhaps  the  best  plan,  to 
prepare  all  lands  intended  for  cotton,  in  beds  made  by  the 
turning-plough  ;  and  in  flat  and  wet  lands,  sometimes  an  ad- 
ditional elevation  ought  to  be  given,  by  drawing  up  the  beds 
with  the  hoe.  I  think,  in  this  work,  we  have  often  followed 
too  much  the  example  of  our  neighbor,  and  have  looked  too 
little  to  reason,  in  the  indiscriminate  bedding  and  high  eleva- 
tion of  all  lands.  I  am  the  advocate  of  deep  soft  beds,  made 
by  very  thorough  and  close  ploughing,  but  cannot  consent  to 
the  necessity  or  benefit,  of  elevating  much,  lands  which  are 
warm  and  dry,  and  which  are  not  subject  to  inundations  from 
excessive  rains.  For  the  convenience  of  culture,  I  would  have 
the  young  cotton  stand  on  a  slight  elevation,  but  when  the  con- 
dition of  the  land  did  not  require  it,  I  would  not  give  it  more. 

The  distance  to  be  given  is  the  next  inquiry  to  be  consider- 
ed. This  is  a  very  important  object,  and  one  upon  which  we 
are  very  dependent  for  success,  and  yet  it  must  be  varied 
very  much  by  circumstances,  some  of  which  are  beyond  our 
knowledge  or  control.  The  general  principle  may  be  stated 
and  then  our  best  judgment  must  guide  us  in  its  application. 

When  the  crop  is  at  maturity,  the  branches  of  ttie  stalks 
ought  slightly  to  interlock  every  way.  We  cannot,  therefore, 


14  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

do  better  in  planting,  than  make  an  estimate  of  the  probable 
average  size  to  which  the  weed  will  grow,  dependent,  of  course 
upon  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons.  It  would,  therefore,  be 
vain  to  attempt  to  be  more  specific  in  directions,  which  must 
be  varied  always  to  suit  the  varied  character  of  the  soil.  This 
whole  question  then,  is  to  be  settled  upon  the  principle  already 
stated.  The  planting  should  be  in  drills,  chiefly  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  good  stands  in  hills ;  and  I  would 
add,  for  the  information  of  those  who  may  be  without  expe- 
rience, that  in  the  common  medium  lands  of  the  country, 
these  rows  ought  ordinarily  to  be  about  four  feet  apart,  and 
the  stalks  in  the  drill  should  be  thinned,  so  as  to  stand  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  inches  from  each  other.  The  width  of  the 
rows  and  the  distance  in  the  drill,  may  be  increased  upon 
better  lands,  and  in  some  cases  of  very  thin  lands,  it  may  fall 
a  little  below  the  distances  designated.  I  do  not  regard  it  a 
matter  of  indispensable  importance,  but  should  decidedly  pre- 
fer that  the  rows  should  run  in  such  direction  as  to  give  the 
plant  the  largest  benefit  of  the  sun  from  early  morn  to  its 
setting.  The  cotton  is  decidedly  a  sun  plant. 

The  Mode  of  Planting. — Here  we  have  many  plans,  all 
setting  up  claims  to  some  peculiar  merit.  With  the  prepara- 
tion which  I  have  indicated,  it  would  hardly  be  necessary  to 
stop  to  discuss  the  relative  merits  of  these  modes,  or  seek  to 
do  more  for  the  accomplishment  of  our  purpose,  than  to  select 
some  one,  which  we  know  to  answer  well.  I  therefore  ad- 
vise the  use  of  some  small  and  very  narrow  plough,  for  the 
opening  furrow.  This  should  be  run  in  the  centre  of  the 
bed,  opening  a  straight  furrow  of  uniform  size  and  depth.  In 
this  the  seed  should  be  strewed  by  some  careful  hand,  scat- 
tering them  uniformly  along  the  furrow,  just  thick  enough  to 
secure  a  good  stand  the  whole  length  of  the  row.  These  I 
would  cover  with  a  board,  made  of  some  hard  wood,  an  inch 


CHAMBERS'  PREMIUM  ESSAY.  15 

or  an  inch  and  a-half  thick,  about  eight  inches  broad,  and 
thirty  inches  long,  beveled  on  the  lower  edge  so  as  to  make 
it  sharp,  slightly  notched  in  the  middle  so  as  to  straddle  the 
row,  with  a  hole  bored  in  the  centre  one  inch  from  the  upper 
edge,  and  screwed  on  the  foot  of  a  common  shovel  or  scooter 
plough  stock.  This  wooden  scraper  and  coverer,  when  drawn 
over  the  row,  covers  the  seed  nicely,  leaving  a  slight  eleva- 
tion to  prevent  the  settling  of  water,  and  dresses  the  whole 
surface  of  the  bed  neatly,  for  the  space  of  fifteen  inches  on 
each  side  of  the  drill.  Thus  all  clods  or  obstructions  are  re- 
moved, and  a  clean  space  is  left  wide  enough  for  the  passage 
of  the  plough  in  the  first  working  between  the  young  cotton 
and  the  rough  land.  This  is  an  advantage  of  much  import- 
ance with  a  crop  so  tender  and  small  as  cotton  at  this  stage. 

I  have  now  conducted  the  operator,  by  a  regular  series, 
to  the  closing  operation  of  planting  the  crop.  And  here  I 
may  be  permitted  to  remark,  that  fine  returns  are  sometimes 
obtained  with  much  less  preparation.  These  are  results  from 
the  accidents  of  season,  and  not  the  due  reward  of  well-di- 
rected culture ;  a  prize  drawn  from  the  lottery,  against  which 
there  are  many  blanks  j  a  demonstration  of  the  futility  and 
uncertainty  of  all  the  best  laid  schemes  of  man.  I  pause  be- 
fore taking  the  next  step.  In  this  age  of  improvement,  with 
scrapers  and  cultivators,  and  all  the  endless  variety  of  labor- 
saving  ploughs,  and  amid  advocates  for  hard-culture  and  soft- 
culture,  and  high-ways  and  by-ways,  for  making  the  crop, 
"  who  shall  resolve  the  doubt  when  all  pretend  to  know  ?" 
and  who  shall  decide,  with  such  differences  among  doctors, 
who  is  right  ?  and  who  can  pretend  to  say  what  number  of 
acres  to  a  hand  will  constitute  a  crop  with  such  varted  modes 
of  culture  ?  I  shall  proceed  upon  the  supposition,  that  a 
plentiful  supply  of  provisions  are  to  be  made  on  the  farm,  and 
then  set  down  as  a  good  cotton  crop,  ten  acres  to  the  hand  ; 


lo  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

under  favorable  circumstances,  a  little  more  may  be  culti- 
vated, and  on  some  lands  less.  Upon  this  basis,  I  proceed. 
As  soon  as  the  young  cotton  is  up  to  a  good  stand,  and  the 
third  and  fourth  leaves  begin  to  appear,  the  operation  may 
commence.  In  lands  which  are  smooth  and  soft,  I  incline  to 
the  opinion,  that  the  hoes  should  precede  the  ploughs,  chopping 
into  bunches,  passing  very  rapidly  on,  and  let  a  careful  plough- 
man follow,  on  each  side  of  the  drill,  throwing  a  little  light 
dirt  into  the  spaces  made  by  the  hoe,  and  a  little  also  about 
the  roots  of  the  cotton,  covering  and  leaving  covered,  all  small 
grass  which  may  have  sprung  up.  This  is,  indeed,  the  merit 
claimed  for  the  operation,  that  after  the  hoes  have  passed, 
the  ploughs  come  on  and  effectually  cover  and  destroy  the 
coat  of  young  grass  then  up.  This  is  known  to  practical 
planters,  to  be  the  crop  of  grass  which  escapes  the  hoe,  and 
does  mischief  to  the  cotton.  But  when  the  land  is  so  rough 
as  to  endanger  the  covering  of  the  cotton  with  the  plough,  the 
operation  must  be  reversed,  and  the  hoes  follow  the  ploughs. 
As  all  that  is  now  proposed  to  be  done  is,  a  very  rapid  super- 
ficial working,  reducing  the  crop  to  bunches,  soon  to  pass 
over  and  return  again,  for  a  more  careful  operation.  This 
should  be  done  as  soon  as  possible,  as  will  be  indicated  by  the 
necessities  of  the  case.  The  grass  and  the  weeds  must  be 
kept  down,  and  the  stand  of  cotton  reduced.  At  this  first 
working,  unless  in  lands  already  very  soft,  I  should  advise  the 
siding  to  be  close,  and  to  ,be  done  with  some  plough  which 
would  break  and  loosen  the  earth  deep  about  the  roots  of  the 
young  plant.  Others  may  theorize  as  they  choose,  but  with 
a  plant  sending  out  a  tap  root,  upon  which  it  so  much  relies, 
and  striking  so  deep  into  the  earth,  as  that  of  cotton,  I  shall 
insist  upon  its  accommodation,  by  providing  a  soft,  deep,  mel- 
low bed,  into  which  these  roots  may  easily  penetrate.  In  the 
second  working,  the  ploughs  should  in  all  cases  go  before  the 


CHAMBERS'  PREMIUM  ESSAY.  17 

hoes,  and  in  all  lands  at  all  tenacious  or  hard,  let  the  work  be 
deep  and  close  again,  and  the  middles  of  the  row  also  be  well 
broken  up  at  this  time.  Now  the  hoes  have  an  important 
and  delicate  duty  to  perform.  The  cotton  is  to  be  reduced 
nearly  to  a  stand,  though  it  is  now  rather  early  to  be  fully 
reduced.  It  is  perhaps  best  to  leave  two  stalks  where  one  is 
intended  to  grow.  The  young  stalk  is  very  tender,  and 
easily  injured,  by  bruises  and  skins  from  rough  and  careless 
work,  and  it  is  much  better  to  aid  a  little  sometimes  with  the 
hand  in  thinning,  than  to  spoil  a  good  stand,  by  bruises  from 
the  hoc.  The  cut-worm  and  the  louse  are  charged  with  many 
sins,  which  ought  to  be  put  down  to  the  account  of  careless 
working,  at  this  critical  stage  of  the  crop.  The  distance  to 
be  given  I  have  before  stated,  and  in  the  first  operation  of 
bunching,  this  ought  to  be  looked  to,  and  the  spaces  regulated 
accordingly.  At  this  second  passing  over,  the  hoes  must  re- 
turn a  little  soft  dirt  to  the  foot  of  the  stalk,  leaving  it  clean 
and  supported.  If  this  work  is  well  done,  the  weed  will  grow 
on,  without  any  necessity  for  further  attention  for  some 
twenty  days  or  three  weeks,  when  the  plough  should  return 
again.  At  this  time,  some  plough  should  be  used  next  the  cot- 
ton, which  will  tumble  the  soft  earth  about  the  root,  covering 
the  small  young  grass,  which  may  have  sprung  up  since  the 
last  working,  but  the  ploughing  should  be  less  close,  and  shal- 
lower, than  at  the  former  working.  The  hoes  have  much  to 
do  in  the  culture  of  this  crop,  arid  must  be  prepared  to  devote 
pretty  much  all  their  time  to  it,  constantly  passing  over,  and 
perfecting  that  which  cannot  be  done  with  the  ploughs,  by 
thinning  out  surplus  stalks,  cleaning  away  remaining  bunches 
of  grass,  stirring  about  the  roots  of  the  plant,  and  if  need  be, 
adding  a  little  earth  to  them.  It  is  difficult,  in  a  treatise  of 
this  sort,  to  say  how  often,  and  in  what  manner,  this  crop 
shall  always  be  worked,  when  the  character  of  the  seasons,  and 


18 

the  difference  in  the  land,  must  have  necessarily  so  much  to 
do  in  settling  this  question.  The  general  rule  must  be,  to 
keep  the  earth  loose  and  well  stirred  ;  the  early  workings  to 
be  deep  and  close ;  and  as  the  crop  conies  on  and  the  fruit 
begins  to  appear,  let  these  workings  be  less  close,  and  shal- 
lower, keeping  the  soil  soft  and  clean.  It  is  of  great  im- 
portance to  work  this  crop  late,  and  it  should  not  cease  until 
the  branches  lock  or  the  cotton  begins  to  open.  I  do  not 
consider  that  it  is  necessary  to  pile  the  earth  in  large  quantities 
about  the  roots  of  the  cotton,  but  think  the  tendency  of  all 
the  workings  should  be,  to  increase  the  quantity. 

The  selection  of  seed  is  an  interest  not  to  be  disregarded. 
We  bave  been  humbugged  a  great  deal  by  dealers  and  specu- 
lators in  this  article,  yet  we  would  greatly  err  to  conclude 
that  no  improvement  could  be  made.  We  should,  however 
save  ourselves  from  this  sort  of  imposition-,  and  improve  our 
own  seed,  by  going  into  the  field  and  picking  each  year, 
from  some  of  the  best  formed  and  best  bearing  stalks,  and 
thus  keep  up  the  improvement.  Great  benefits  may  often 
be  derived,  by  changes  of  seed  in  the  same  neighborhood, 
from  differences  of  soil,  and  occasional  changes  from  a  distant 
and  different  climate  may  be  made  to  great  advantage. 

The  picking  of  cotton  should  commence  just  as  soon  as 
the  hands  can  be  at  all  profitably  employed; — say  as  soon  as 
forty  or  fifty  pounds  to  the  hand  can  be  gathered.  It  is  of 
great  importance,  not  only  to  the  success  of  the  work,  but  to 
the  complexion  and  character  of  the  staple,  to  keep  well  up, 
with  this  work,  so  that,  as  far  as  possible,  it  may  be  saved  with- 
out exposure  to  rain.  The  embarrassments  to  picking  when 
once  behind,  and  a  storm  or  heavy  rain  shall  intervene,  ming- 
ling it  with  the  leaf,  and  tangling  in  the  burr,  are  just  as  great, 
as  to  get  behind  it  in  the  cultivation  of  the  crop,  when  much 
additional  labor  will  be  required  to  accomplish  the  same  object. 


CHAMBERS'  PREMIUM  ESS  AY  ;  19 

In  the  early  pickings,  when  the  seeds  are  green,  some 
sunning  is  indispensably  necessary ;  but  after  more  maturity 
and  dryness,  very  little  will  be  required.  This  must  be  de- 
termined very  much  by  circumstances;  but  dew -or  rain- 
water should  always  be  removed,  by  drying  upon  the  scaf- 
fold, before  the  cotton  is  bulked  in  the  house.  With  proper 
care  and  attention,  great  improvement  may  be  given  to  the 
complexion  of  the  staple  by  a  little  heating  in  the  bulk,  ex- 
tracting the  oil  from  the  seed,  and  imparting  a  slight  cream 
to  the  color.  This  process,  however,  must  be  conducted  with 
great  caution  and  care,  lest  the  heating  proceed  too  far,  and 
injury  be  done.  It  is  easily  checked,  by  stirring  and  exposure 
to  the  air.  It  is  an  advantage  to  all  cotton  to  lie  in  the  bulk 
before  ginning,  and  we  doubtless  often  lose  much  of  this 
benefit  for  want  of  sufficient  house-room.  Indeed,  I  think  it 
a  very  common  error,  in  our  plantation  arrangements,  not  to 
build  houses  for  this  special  object.  The  cotton,  when  gin- 
ned, ought  to  be  so  dry,  that  the  seed  will  crack  when 
pressed  between  the  teeth.  It  is  often  ginned  wetter,  but 
just  as  often,  the  cotton  samples  blue.  A  gin  should  be 
used  which  will  neither  cut  nor  nap  the  cotton,  but  send  out 
the  fibre  straight  and  smooth,  so  that  when  the  samples  are 
drawn,  they  will  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  carded. 
This  is  greatly  promoted  by  the  largely  increased  number  of 
brushes  now  added  by  the  best  manufacturers. 

The  packing  should  be  in  square  bales;  and,  without 
reference  to  freight,  or  any  of  these  mere  incidental  influ- 
ences, I  think  the  weight  of  the  bale  should  be  fixed  at 
about  four  hundred,  or  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds ; 
to  be  in  two  breadths  of  wide  bagging,  pressed  until  the  side 
seams  are  well  closed,  or  a  little  lapped,  and  then  secured 
with  six  good  ropes,  the  heads  neatly  sewed  in,  so  that  when 
complete  and  turned  out  of  the  press,  no  cotton  should  be 


20  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

seen  exposed.  These  packages  should  be  nearly  square,  for 
the  greater  beauty  of  the  bales,  but  still  more,  for  the  greater 
convenience  with  which  they  may  be  handled  and  shipped, 
saving  the  necessity  for  tearing  the  bags,  and  giving  a  better 
guarantee  that  they  will  reach  a  distant  market  in  good  order. 

The  crop  is  now  made  and  ready  for  market,  and  as  I 
have  gone  through  with  the  labor  of  making,  I  hope  I  may 
be  pardoned  for  manifesting  a  little  interest  as  to  its  disposal, 
and  therefore  venture  to  offer  a  little  advice  on  that  subject. 
Create  no  liens  on  this  crop,  or  necessity  for  selling.  Never 
spend  the  money  which  it  is  to  produce,  until  it  is  sold.  You 
are  then  free  to  choose  your  own  market,  and  time  of  selling ; 
and  as  cotton  is  a  controlling  article,  it  will  generally  regulate 
the  value  of  all  property  to  be  purchased,  except  the  redemp- 
tion of  an  outstanding  promise. 

I  might  have  said  something  about  the  topping  of  cotton, 
but  all  I  could  have  done,  would  have  been  to  put  it  down  as 
a  contingent  operation,  and  doubtful  in  its  effects  upon  the 
crop,  I  might  also  have  descanted  largely  in  the  enumeration 
and  description  of  insects  and  diseases  peculiar  to  cotton, 
suggested  some  remedy,  and  swelled  my  essay,  by  a  flourish 
in  the  dark,  upon  topics  about  which  little  is  known  ;  but  I 
have  felt  that  it  would  be  most  in  accordance  with  my  plan, 
and  certainly  most  with  my  feelings,  to  candidly  confess  my 
inability,  and  include  these  all  under  the  head  of  Provider! 
tial  contingencies,  to  which  this  crop  is  liable,  and  against 
which  we  may  war  and  contend,  but  which  will,  after  all, 
prove  an  overmatch  for  the  energy,  skill,  or  wisdom  of  man." 


21 


SECTION   II. — GOVERNOR   HAMMOND'S   REPORT. 

From  the  South-Western  Farmer. 

WE  give  at  the.  conclusion  of  tins  notice,  the  Report  of  a 
Committee  of  which  our  friend,  J.  H.  Hammond,  was  chair- 
man. We  congratulate  him  on  the  knowledge  of  farming 
that  he  displays.  We  see  how  readily  the  educated  and  in- 
telligent can  learn  the  business  of  farming.  But  a  short  time 
since,  our  old  school-mate  was  up  to  his  eyes  in  politics—he 
now  retires  to  the  field — there  to  live  a  quiet,  peaceable  life. 
We  rejoice  at  it,  and  can  but  repeat  the  remark  we  made  to 
him,  before  he  was  made  Governor — "  You  are  wrong — you 
have  no  business  in  that  sphere — seek  your  ease  and  peace — 
it  suits  you  better,  and  will  give  you  satisfaction."  His  answer 
was  then,  as  his  works  answer  now  :  "  1  will  do  so  as  early  as 
the  force  of  circumstances  will  permit" — or  to  this  purport 
were  both. 

We  again  congratulate  him,  and  also  our  country,  in  the 
success  of  our  friend — we  also  press  on  all  agriculturists  any 
article  from  the  pen  of  Hammond ;  he  will,  we  feel  assured, 
give  all  matters  that  he  writes  on,  his  minute  and  particular 
attention.  We  have  known  him  from  both  of  our  boyhoods, 
and  know  him  to  be  talented  and  observing,  and  more  than 
all,  when  he  does  apply  himself,  it  is  an  application  deserving 
and  insuring  success.  * 

As  we  are  his  senior  in  planting  the  cotton,  especially  in 
personal  attention  to  it,  we  beg  to  give  him  a  hint  or  two. 
We  may  err  in  our  notions ;  and  why  we  say  so,  is,  that  we 
differ  materially  from  so  large  a  number  of  farmers.  We 
think  that  very  early  planting  is  disadvantageous ;  and  to 
define  early  planting,  we  think  the  last  week  in  March  is 


22  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

early  enough  at  any  time,  even  for  this  year,  when,  it  will  be 
borne  in  mind,  the  fruit  trees  were  quite  green  at  that  time ; 
to  plant  as  early  as  the  15th  or  20th  of  March  is  "  very  early." 
We  generally  judge  it  to  be  time  to  plant  corn  when  the 
"leaf  of  the  oak  is  as  large  as  the  squirrel's  ear;"  many  of 
our  planters  have  planted  cotton  as  early.  We  think  cotton 
planted  from  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  April  is  early  enough  for 
old  land,  and  have  known  by  several  crops  that  the  later 
planting,  say  10th,  was  considerably  better  than  the  early — 
we  know  this  not  only  by  our  own  weights  and  measures,  but 
also  by  others. 

We  would  make  an  exception  to  early  planting.  New 
ground  and  rich  fresh  land,  has  such  a  tendency  to  make 
weed,  that  it  is  necessary  to  plant  as  early  as  a  stand  can  be 
had — so  all  think ;  we  would  not  object,  but  think  that 
judicious  culture  would  make  a  different  result.  We  would 
act  precisely  as  with  the  tree  that  produced  wood  instead  of 
fruit — amputate  the  roots.  We  think  that  if  the  land  has 
been  broken  up  very  early,  and  left  to  be  consolidated  by 
rains,  then  planted  about  the  5th  to  the  10th  of  April,  thinned 
out  as  early  as  it  was  up,  cultivate  deep  and  late,  that  the 
stalks  would  set  the  fruit  and  ripen  in  time.  Do  we  not  thus 
with  fruit  trees,  Irish  potatoes,  and  sweet  potatoes — the  lat- 
ter two,  by  either  cutting  off  tops,  or  feeding  with  calves  ? 
And  why  not  a  similar  practice  with  the  cotton  plant  ? 

The  cotton  plant  is  a  very  tender  plant  if  treated  as  it  was 
some  ten  or  fifteen  years  since — some  three  to  six  bushels  of 
seed  sown  per  acre,  and  not  thinned  out  until  the  third  leaf 
had  appeared.  It  has  been  raised  in  a  hot-bed,  and  no  won- 
der it  is  tender ;  biit  if  sown  thinly,  and  then  thinned  out  to 
single  stalks,  we  think  it  a  hardy  plant.  There  is  no  use  in 
trying  the  hardihood  of  the  plant.  It  is  unlike  corn — it  has 
a  tap  root,  grows  in  dry  weather,  and  unless  the  land  has 


GOVERNOR  HAMMOND'S  REPORT.  23 

not  been  properly  prepared,  or  remarkably  dry,  it  will  im- 
prove by  hot  or  dry  weather — but  corn  having  superficial 
roots,  should  be  planted  early  as  possible,  that  it  may  ripen 
before  drought  sets  in.  If  cotton  will  make  1000  Ibs.  per  acre, 
when  planted  late  in  May,  there  can  be  no  fears  to  plant  10th 
April.  The  farmer  can  place  his  land  in  excellent  order — 
have  his  corn  cleaned  handsomely,  and  when  cotton  is  up,  ho 
can  rush  it  to  the  utmost.  We  request  our  friend  H.  to  plant 
one  acre  of  cotton,  even  now,  after  his  seeing  this,  on  a  piece 
of  well-ploughed  land,  in  the  same  field  that  he  has  now  even 
scraped  over;  just  open  out  furrows  where  the  cotton  now 
stands,  which  will  destroy  the  cotton  that  has  been  scraped. 
Our  impression  is,  that  the  difference  will  be  very  slight,  and 
if  adopted  generally  would  give  considerable  time  to  manure, 
plough,  and  improve,  instead  of  giving  cotton  the  additional 
working  necessary.  The  land  that  we  have  known  planted 
late,  would  not,  in  average  seasons,  make  anything  like  one- 
third  more,  by  early  planting,  and  if  the  extra  labor  was  ap- 
plied to  improving  it,  we  doubt,  if  it  would  yield  as  much. 
Understand,  we  do  not  advocate  either  late  or  early  plant- 
ing— that  is,  after  the  25th  of  April  or  before  1st — and  only 
wish  to  show  there  is  not  so  vast  a  difference  between  planting 
1st  of  April  and  1st  of  May.  What  would  be  the  gain  to  any 
farm  by  the  extra  month's  work  ? 


Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Barnwell  Agricultural 
Society,  on  the  Culture  of  Cotton. 

The  ground  cannot  be  too  well  prepared  for  Cotton. — If  it 
had  rested  one  year,  it  should  be  broken  flush,  as  early  in  the 
previous  fall  as  possible,  and  spaded  just  before  planting.  If 
it  has  rested  two  years,  or  been  planted  the  preceding  year, 


24  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

let  it  be  listed  as  early  as  it  can  be  done,  and  two  furrows 
thrown  upon  the  list.  Immediately  upon  planting,  let  two 
more  furrows  be  thrown  up,  and  balk  broken  out  completely. 
The  common  method  of  running  three  furrows,  and  planting 
on  it,  throws  the  winter's  portion  of  the  crop-work  upon  the 
laborer,  during  crop  time,  and  is  inexcusable,  unless  heavy 
clearings  are  absolutely  required.  The  reason  for  not  listing 
after  one  year's  rest,  is,  that  the  vegetable  matter  will  be 
too  abundant  and  too  coarse  to  form  a  substratum  to  receive 
the  tap  root. 

Cotton  should  be  planted  early. — It  may  increase  the  dif- 
ficulty of  getting  a  stand,  and  give  the  plant,  for  a  long  time, 
a  puny  appearance,  but  every  stalk  of  cotton  planted  in 
March,  or  first  week  in  April,  that  survives,  may  be  readily 
distinguished,  in  any  field  that  has  been  replanted  later.  It 
bears  more,  and  earlier,  and  stands  all  the  vicissitudes  of  June, 
July  and  August  better.  There  are  several  methods  of  plant- 
ing. Your  Committee  recommends  planting  in  spots,  regularly 
measured  by  the  dibble.  It  is  somewhat  tedious,  though  less 
so  than  is  generally  supposed,  and  certainly  does  not  take  as 
much  time  as  both  to  drill  and  chop  out ;  nor  is  time  so  valu- 
able at  that  period,  as  when  the  latter  operation  is  required, 
while  a  better  and  more  regular  stand  may  be  secured. 
There  is  no  land,  or  but  little,  in  our  district,  in  which  cotton 
rows  should  be  over  three  feet  apart,  or  the  cotton  further 
than  fourteen  inches  in  the  drill,  one  plant  in  a  place.  To 
make  a  large  crop,  there  must  be  an  abundant  supply  of 
stalks.  When  the  weather  is  too  wet  to  plant,  time  may  be 
often  saved  by  dropping  the  seed,  but  not  covering  until  the 
ground  is  dryer.  If,  however,  it  cannot  be  covered  in  three 
or  four  days,  it  is  time  lost,  for  it  must  be  replanted.  Always 
cover  lightly,  under  any  circumstances.  And  always  plant 
on  something  of  a  bed,  in  any  land.  It  keeps  cotton  dryer, 


GOVERNOR  HAMMOND'S  REPORT.        25 

and  affords  more  air  when  it  is  young.  It  enables  you  to  get 
at  it  in  working.  By  increasing  the  surface,  it  absorbs  more 
moisture,  if  it  is  too  dry ;  and  gives  out  more  if  it  is  too  wet, 
and  in  both  cases,  gives  you  the  advantage  of  a  vertical  sun 
on  the  tap  root,  which  hastens  the  maturity  of  the  bolls — a 
vast  desideratum  in  our  climate.  On  this  account,  the  bed 
can  hardly  be  drawn  too  high  at  the  last  hoeing,  in  any 
season. 

In  cultivating  Cottony  whether  with  the  plough  or  hoe,  the 
chief  object  is  to  keep  down  the  grass,  which  is  its  greatest 
antagonist,  bringing  all,  or  almost  all  other  evils  in  its  train. 
It  is  not  so  essential,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  to 
keep  the  ground  stirred,  as  is  generally  supposed,  and  by  no 
means  requisite  to  stir  it  deep  ;  at  all  events,  not  to  our  light 
soil.  If  it  be  well  prepared,  deep  ploughing  is  not  only  un- 
necessary for  any  of  our  crops,  but  often  highly  injurious  to 
them,  while  it  rapidly  exhausts  the  land,  by  turning  it  up 
fresh,  under  a  burning  sun.  Much  unnecessary  pains  is  usu- 
ally taken,  and  time  lost,  to  work  the  plant  in  a  particular 
way,  under  the  supposition  that  it  is  a  peculiarly  delicate  one. 
If  it  survives  its  infancy,  few  plants  are  hardier.  It  is  often 
found  to  reach  maturity  in  the  alleys,  where  the  mules  walk 
with  the  ploughs  following,  and  the  laborer  tramps  backward 
and  forward.  Sometimes  it  will  bear  fruit  in  turnrows  used 
frequently  for  wagons,  while  it  really  seems  to  derive  benefit 
from  being  bitten  down  almost  to  the  ground  by  the  animals ; 
it  will  bear  almo&t  any  usage  better  than  it  will  that  mortal 
enemy — grass. 

The  most  critical  operation  in  working  cotton,  is  thinning. 
It  should  be  done  with  great  care,  and  if  early,  with  the  hand. 
In  a  dry  year,  it  cannot  be  done  too  early  after  the  plant  is 
up.  In  a  wet  one,  it  may  be  profitably  delayed,  until  it  has 
begun  to  form,  or  later  even.  On  the  experience,  observation 
2 


26  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

and  judgment  of  the  planter,  in  this  matter,  everything  de 
pends,  as  each  year  brings  its  own  rules  with  it.     Where  cir 
cumstances  are  favorable,  early  thinning  is,  of  course,  the  best 
Some  planters  always   top  their  cotton.      Others  never  do. 
Your  Committee  are  of  opinion,  that  it  seldom  or  never  does 
harm  to  do  so.     But  whether  it  is  worth  the  trouble,  is  a 
doubtful  question.     Those  who  have  no  clearing,  or  other  im- 
portant employ  for  their  hands,  would  lose  nothing  by  devot 
ing  three  or  four  days  to  this    operation  early  in  August. 
Those  pressed  for  time  might  gain  by  omitting  it. 

Too  muck  pains  cannot  be  taken  in  preparing  Cotton  for 
market,  for  they  are  well  remunerated  by  the  additional  price. 
The  first  thing  to  be  attended  to,  is  to  have  it  gathered  free 
of  trash.  With  a  little  care,  wonders  can  be  effected  in  this 
way ;  and  hands  with  a  short  training,  will  pick  almost,  if  not 
quite,  as  much  without  trash  as  with  it.  It  should  never  be 
gathered  when  wet.  And  here  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
remark,  that  one  of  the  very  best  sanitary  rules  of  a  planta- 
tion is,  never  to  send  out  your  hands  to  pick  until  the  dew- 
has  nearly  or  quite  disappeared.  It  saves  time  in  the  long- 
run,  as  well  as  health  and  life.  Cotton  should  never  be  gin- 
ned, until  the  seeds  are  so  dry  as  to  crack  between  the  teeth. 
If  damp,  it  is  preferable  to  dry  it  in  the  shade,  as  the  sun 
extracts  the  oil,  and  injures  the  staple.  If,  by  accident,  how- 
ever, it  gets  wet,  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  put  it  on  the 
scaffold.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  sort  the  cotton  carefully 
into  several  qualities,  in  ginning  and  packing,  for  by  mixing 
all  qualities  together,  the  average  of  the  price  is  certainly 
lowered.  A  few  old  hands,  or  very  young  ones,  breeding 
women,  sucklers,  and  invalids,  will  earn  excellent  wages  in  a 
ginhouse,  at  this  occupation.  Neat  packing  is  of  no  small  im- 
portance, in  the  sale  of  cotton,  and  no  little  taste  may  be  dis- 
played in  making  the  packages.  The  advantage  of  square 


GOVERNOR  HAMMOND'S  REPORT.  27 

bags  is  universally  known,  and  the  Committee  are  astonished 
that  any  other  should  ever  be  made  now. 

Every  kind  of  manure  is  valuable  for  Cotton,. — Every  kind 
of  compost,  green  crops  turned  in,  cotton  seed,  and  even  naked 
leaves  listed  and  left  to  rot,  improves  this  crop.  When  planted 
on  cotton  seed,  and  sometimes  on  strong  stable  manure,  it  is 
more  difficult  to  retain  a  stand,  owing  probably  to  the  over 
stimulus  of  these  strong  manures.  So,  on  leaves,  unless  well 
rotted,  the  cotton  will  long  continue  to  die,  in  consequence  of 
the  leaves  decaying  away,  and  exposing  the  root  too  much  to 
sun  and  rain.  These  difficulties  may  be  avoided,  by  a  little 
pains,  and  by  no  means  justify  the  opinion  entertained  by 
some,  that  cotton  should  never  be  planted  on  freshly  manur- 
ed land.  The  only  question  is  the  cost  of  the  manure.  A 
great  deal  may  be  made  on  every  plantation,  without  much 
trouble  or  expense,  by  keeping  the  stables  and  stable-yard, 
hog  and  cow  pens,  well  supplied  with  leaves  and  straw.  And 
also  from  pens  of  corn-cobs ;  sweepings  from  negro  and  fowl' 
house  yards,  and  rank  weeds  that  spring  up  about  them,  col- 
lected together,  and  left  to  rot.  Whenever  the  business  is 
carried  further,  and  a  regular  force  is  detached  to  make 
manure  at  all  seasons,  and  entirely  left  out  from  the  crop,  it 
becomes  the  owner  to  enter  into  a  close  calculation  of  the  cost 
and  profits.  In  many  agricultural  operations,  such  a  course, 
the  experience  of  all  countries  has  proved  to  be  profitable,  but 
these  operations  partake  rather  more  of  the  farming  and  gar- 
dening, than  planting  character ;  and  whether  the  same 
method  will  do  for  the  extensive  planting  of  short  staple 
cotton,  remains,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  yet  to  be 
tested.  If  anything  like  an  average,  of  past  prices  can  be 
maintained,  it  is  certain  that  more  can  be  made  by  planting 
largely  than  by  making  manure  as  a  crop.  If,  however, 
prices  continue  to  fall,  and  the  growing  of  cotton  be  confined 


28  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

to  a  few  ricli  spots — those  susceptible  of  high  manuring — then 
our  whole  system  must  be  changed,  our  crops  must  be  cur- 
tailed, and  staple-labor  losing  its  past  value,  the  comparative 
profit  of  a  cotton  and  manure  crop,  will  preponderate  in  favor 
of  the  latter.  As  a  substitute  for  manuring  on  a  large  scale, 
resting  and  rotation  of  crops  is  resorted  to.  In  our  right 
level  land,  the  practice  of  resting  cannot  be  too  highly  recom- 
mended, and,  by  a  judicious  course,  such  as  resting  two  and 
planting  two,  or  at  most  three  years,  our  lands  may  not  only 
be  kept  up  for  ever,  but  absolutely  improved.  From  rotation 
of  crops,  but  little  is  gained  for  cotton.  After  small  grain, 
whether  from  the  exhausting  nature  of  that  crop,  on  light 
lands,  or  because  the  stubble  keeps  the  ground  always  rough 
and  porous,  cotton  will  not  do  well.  After  corn,  it  is  difficult 
to  tend,  as  from  our  usual  manner  of  cultivating  corn,  grass  is 
always  left  in  full  possession  of  the  field.  It  does  best  after 
cotton,  or  after  a  year's  rest.  Rest  is  the  grand  restorer,  and 
the  rotation  chiefly  required  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton. 

J.   H.   HAMMOND,  Chairman. 


SECTION  III. — "COLO"    TO    HON.    J.    C.    CALHOUN,    ON 
COTTON   CULTURE. 

From  the  Laurensville  Herald. 

HONORED  SIR  : — Will  you  permit  me,  through  the  columns 
of  the  Herald,  to  reply  to  your  very  acceptable  letter. 

The  subject  I  desire  to  press  home  upon  every  planter  is 
the  improvement  of  seed  by  a  close  and  rigid  selection  from 
the  field,  as  also  the  duty  of  drying  before  put  into  bulk,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  heating  of  seed. 

Every  planter  should   do  it  to  some    extent,  and  in  ad- 


LETTER   TO   HON.  J.  C.  CALHOUN.  29 

dition  thereto  procure  an  occasional  fresh  article  from  the 
favored  region  of  the  cotton  plant. 

I  commence  my  cotton  planting  operations  by  breaking 
down  with  clubs  the  cotton  stalks  of  the  past  year  :  if  they  be 
large,  the  limbs  are  threshed  down  first  so  as  to  break  up, 
then  the  stalk  broken  off  as  near  the  earth  as  possible.  Of 
course  this  is  done  when  cotton  succeeds  cotton.  I  then  run 
off  my  rows,  at  such  distances  as  the  fertility  and  age  of  land 
as  well  as  the  variety  of  seed  demand.  The  fresher  the  land, 
and  richer  it  is,  the  greater  the  distance ;  the  Mexican  seed 
requiring  more  distance  than  the  cotton  I  have  seen,  which  is 
called  in  a  part  of  Mississippi,  the  Hogan  seed — a  few  I  have 
received  as  a  present — and  these  still  more  than  the  Sugar  Loaf, 
another  variety  from  Mississippi,  which  in  some  localities  in 
the  Gulf  States  has  proved  very  productive.  I  have  not  had 
occasion  to  give  a  greater  distance  than  five  and  a-half  feet, 
and  am  inclined  to  think — though  you  claim  to  be  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  cotton  region — that  upon  rich  and 
fresh  land  the  cotton  stalk  may  be  as  large  or  larger  than 
some  eighty  or  ninety  miles  south,  on  similar  lands. 

I  make  it  a  point  to  plough  out  all  land  as  deep  as  I  can, 
and  without  any  ridge  being  left  under  the  ploughed  land.  My 
rows  are  always  laid  off  by  stakes,  with  a  shovel-plough,  and 
then  two  furrows  turned  to  it,  one  from  each  side,  with  an 
efficient  turned  plough  ;  this  is  performed  as  early  in  March  as 
I  can,  endeavoring  to  postpone  my  spring  ploughing  until  after 
the  heavy  rains.  Understand,  I  have  a  clay  subsoil,  with 
silicious  matter  so  fine,  that  no  grit  is  perceived  by  rubbing 
with  the  fingers. 

Using  due  diligence  in  my  early  ploughing,  and  planting 
of  corn,  I  am  enabled  to  have  all  cotton  land  with  three  fur- 
rows thrown  up,  before  time  to  plant  cotton.  When  the  time 
has  arrived — which  time  should  not  be  before  the  seed  will 


30 

vegetate,  and  plant  grow  off — I  do  not  like  to  plant  as  early 
as  many  do — I  then  press  forward  my  ploughing  and  planting 
thus :  enough  ploughs  go  ahead  to  ridge  up  entirely  the  balance 
of  unbroken  earth;  harrows  follow,  openers,  droppers,  and 
last  coverers.  I  never  wish  to  sow  more  than  one  bushel 
of  seed,  and  prefer  to  cover  with  a  board  or  block  so 
as  to  cover  shallow,  to  leave  ridge  smooth,  and  to  compress 
earth  to  seed.  Upon  level  land,  I  require  a  set  of  hands  to 
plant  ten  acres  per  day,  length  of  rows  averaging  four  hundred 
and  forty  yards;  a  set  of  hands  is  one  narrower,  one  opener 
one  to  sow  seed,  and  one  to  cover.  Now,  esteemed  sir,  we 
have  planted  say  one-half  the  crop. 

If  all  the  land  had  not  been  ploughed  with  three  furrows 
prior  to  this,  I  then  turn  about  and  prepare  the  residue  of 
land,  and  if  corn  can  be  pressed  forward,  I  work  all  or  part — 
with  the  view  of  having  ten  days  between  first  and  last  plant- 
ing. Then  return  to  planting  the  residue  of  cotton.  We 
have  now  planted  the  crop. 

Ploughing  and  Planting. — I  am  very  particular  in  re- 
quiring rows  to  be  laid  off  straight,  bedded  up  so ;  and  far- 
rows opened  for  dropping,  equally  so,  because  the  ploughman 
in  all  succeeding  labor  is  able  to  plough  nearer  the  plant,  thus 
lightening  hoe  labor.  An  expert  ploughman,  with  a  sharp 
turning- plough,  by  letting  the  share  run  level  with  the  ridge, 
handles  inclined,  of  course,  can  scrape  so  near  the  plant,  that 
a  hoe  hand  can  scrape  and  thin  out  nearly  twice  as  much. 

Many,  in  breaking  up  land  for  cotton,  leave  unbroken 
earth  ;  some  call  it  "cut  and  cover" — that  is,  cover  unbroken 
earth  with  a  harrow — and  they  insist  that  the  plant  bears 
better  than  when  the  land  is  broken  up — the  plant  grows  too 
luxuriantly.  This  may  possibly  be  the  case  upon  the  rich 
lands  where  your  plantation  in  Alabama  is,  but  certainly  not 
in  our  Sfate,  and  where  you  live.  It  is  a  slovenly  culture, 


LETTER   TO   HON.  J.  C.  CALHOUN.  31 

to  say  the  least  of  it.  But  how  can  the  tender  spongioles  of 
the  root  pass  through  stiff  land  in  dry  weather,  and  how  can 
the  plant  be  sustained  when  only  half  the  land  is  cultivated  ? 

The  deeper  land  is  ploughed  when  the  subsoil  is  not 
sandy,  or  gravelly,  if  properly  drained,  the  more  room  for 
roots  to  search  for  their  food,  and  the  greater  deposit  of  dew 
therein,  the  longer  to  get  hot,  and  the  earlier  to  cool,  as  well 
as  holding  more  moisture,  less  liability  to  wash  from  an  ordi- 
nary rain,  and  the  sooner  the  drying  of  the  surface. 

I  place  two  furrows  on  the  one  laid  off  early,  that  the 
earth  may  consolidate — cotton  seed  vegetating  more  certain, 
and  grows  off  more  rapidly.  I  put  off  breaking  out  the  residue 
as  long  as  I  can,  so  that  the  surface  may  be  clean  when 
planted,  and  thus  grass  and  cotton  have  an  equal  start.  I 
use  the  harrow  to  remove  all  trash,  clods,  &c.,  as  also  to  level 
ridge. 

I  prefer  a  ridge,  with  the  view  of  having  dry,  warm  soil 
for  the  seed,  as  cotton  grows  off  earlier,  and  is  sooner  out  of 
the  way  of  droughts,  as  also  that  I  can  scrape  down  with 
the  plough,  and  cover  young  grass  thinly  in  the  middle. 

Early  planting  gives  "  sore  shin"  and  lice ;  or  rather  the 
plant  has  so  little  vitality,  that  its  natural  enemies  soon  "  take 
away  even  that  which  it  hath." 

I  always  strive  to  keep  seed  perfectly  sound,  thereby  adding 
to  the  vitality  of  the  plant.  I  have  noticed,  some  years  the 
stand  to  be  worse  than  other  years,  and  some  men  always  to 
have  had  the  luck  of  bad  stands.  This  was  owing,  I  think, 
to  damp  weather,  or  wet  spells  injuring  the  cotton  so  as  to 
injure  the  vital  powers  of  the  seed. 

I  plant  seed  sparsely,  because  the  plant  becomes  hardy  at 
once,  and  then  stands  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  much  cold  as 
corn. 

I  regard  a  crop  when  planted  in  first-rate  order,  as  nearly 


32  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

half  made,  so  much  regard  I  place  upon  thorough  tilth   and 
thorough  preparation. 

With  profound  respect,  I  am,  honored  sir,  yours, 

COLO. 


SECTION   IV. — REMARKS   ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF    COTTON. 

From  the  Southern  Cultivator. 

1.  Preparation  of  Land. 

IN  writing  out  the  detailed  plan  I  pursue  in  the  cultivation 
of  cotton,  I  must  begin  I  suppose  on  the  1st  of  January,  so  as 
to  carry  your  readers  regularly  through.  I  will  endeavor  not 
to  be  tedious,  yet  I  cannot  possibly  be  minute,  without  at  least 
being  tiresome  to  somebody — and  there  is  always  somebody, 
who  already  knows  everything. 

For  ten  years  past,  I  have  thrashed  down  all  cotton  stalks, 
cut  down  all  corn  stalks,  and  turned  them  under  as  well  as 
possible  with  a  turning-plough.  When  planting  cotton  after 
orn,  I  strive  to  break  up  the  land  with  two-horse  ploughs — 
what  I  term  flushing,  that  is,  breaking  up  in  thirty  to  fifty- 
feet  beds.  Last  year  I  broke  up  every  acre  of  land  I  planted, 
with  two-horse  ploughs,  whether  planted  in  cotton,  corn,  oats, 
or  potatoes. 

If  my  land  has  been  in  cotton,  I  generally  open  out  water 
furrows,  deep,  with  a  shovel-plough,  to  this  I  throw  two  fur- 
rows, one  on  each  side,  with  one  or  two-horse  turning-ploughs. 
Thus  the  land  remains  until  a  day  or  two  before  I  wish  to 
plant,  when  I  have  the  balk  broken  out,  thus  having  fresh 
earth  to  plant  upon  and  yet  firm  earth  for  the  seed  to  be 
planted  in.  There  will  be  a  narrow  ridge  of  earth,  not  cov- 
ered by  the  fresh  earth,  but  I  invariably  run  an  iron-tooth 


PREPARATION   OF   LAND.  33 

harrow  along  the  ridge,  so  as  to  break  clods,  and  rake  off 
pieces  of  stalk  and  to  leave  the  ridge  fresh ;  if  once  running 
of  the  harrow  will  not  do,  I  run  it  twice. 

The  opener  then  follows  and  opens  out  a  furrow,  say  one 
half  inch  is  deep  enough,  and  narrow ;  if  this  furrow  could 
be  as  straight  as  a  bee  line,  and  half  an  inch  wide  I  would 
esteem  it  better,  if  upon  level  land.  The  seed  is  scattered 
thinly  and  regularly,  then  covered  with  a  board  or  block ;  I 
would  prefer  a  roller.  As  to  distance,  this  depends  upon 
quality,  age,  and  locality  of  land.  Rich  and  fresh  land  requir- 
ing greater  distance,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  same 
quality  of  land  north  of  say  33°  will  tend  more  to  longer  joints, 
than  does  cotton  about  31°  to  33°  and  particularly  western 
lands ;  these  lands  tending  to  short  joints,  and  greater  yield  to 
height  of  cotton.  I  do  not  plant  any  land  that  requires  rows 
to  be  over  five  and  a-half  feet,  even  to  grow  fifteen  to  twenty 
hundred-weight  of  cotton  per  acre,  i  There  is  sometimes,  I 
am  sure,  much  loss  by  too  sparse  planting.  I  desire  to  have 
the  plants  meet  in  the  rows  by  the  1st  of  August,  and  should 
it  after  this  date  lap  in  the  row,  the  crop  will  not  be  materially 
injured.  I  find  the  new  varieties,  as  Sugar  Loaf  and  Cluster, 
to  require  less  distance  both  ways  than  does  the  Mexican. 
When  I  planted  my  crop  with  Mexican — Petit  Gulf — I  gave 
five  to  five  and  a-half  feet  by  two  to  three  feet  on  my  best 
land.  For  four  years  I  have  grown  Sugar  Loaf,  and  plant 
four  and  a-half  feet  by  eighteen  to  twenty -four  inches,  prefer- 
ring about  eighteen  inches.  Upon  second  quality  of  land  I 
reduce  distance  to  four  feet  or  less,  by  eighteen  inches.  Upon 
this  department  of  planting  (the  preparation)  I  use  more  lime 
and  labor  than  is  usual,  being  careful  to  break  up  deep,  throw 
out  into  beds  all  the  land,  leaving  no  unploughed  ridges ;  the 
ridges  I  endeavor  to  pulverize  well,  and  do  not  run  ploughs 
unless  land  will  pulverize,  thinking  ploughing  may  be  done 
2* 


34  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

too  early  and  land  injured  by  being  ploughed  wet.  My  object 
in  ploughing,  say  three  furrows,  early,  is  to  permit  the  foun- 
dation of  ridges  to  settle  somewhat,  as  seed  germinate  freer, 
and  grow  off  better  than  upon  light  earth.  I  break  out  the 
residue  as  late  as  planting  time,  so  that  the  plant  will  start 
before  or  with  the  grass  and  weeds.  I  prefer  never  more 
than  a  bushel  of  seed,  per  acre  because  solitary  stalks  are 
not  injured  by  cold  weather  when  scraped  out,  as  when  grown 
in  a  hot-bed. 

I  have  been  asked,  how  I  plant  seed  when  I  buy.  I  reply, 
I  wet  the  seed  thoroughly  with  salt  and  water,  and  some- 
times use  brine  made  by  steeping  stable  manure  in  salt  and 
water  for  ten  days  before  wanted,  until  fermentation  has  en- 
sued. The  seed  are  then  dried  off  with  ashes,  or  lime,  or 
plaster — I  prefer  the  two  latter,  as  the  seeds  are  white,  and 
the  master  can  see  that  care  in  dropping  is  practised  by  hands. 
These  seeds  are  dropped  at  the  required  distance  and  are 
covered  with  the  foot,  by  brushing  a  little  earth  upon  the 
seeds  and  pressing  them  into  the  earth  with  the  foot.  I  would 
prefer  a  seed-planter,  but  could  not  make  the  one  I  tried,  drop 
regular.  Five  to  ten  seeds  in  a  place  is  ample.  I  have  drop- 
ped only  one,  and  two,  and  three  ;  when  I  did  this  myself, 
I  failed  not  in  a  stand. 

With  a  good  ridge,  clean  of  clods  and  litter,  a  hand  can 
scrape  more  ;  the  labor  of  planting  carefully,  and  time  seem 
ingly  lost  in  this,  as  well  as  of  dropping  seed,  is  fully  regained 
in  the  scraping.  I  have  cultivated  for  ten  years,  nine  to  ten 
acres  of  cotton,  and  eight  to  nine  of  corn,  besides  potatoes, 
oats,  &c.  This  could  not  have  been  done,  but  by  doing  all 
work  well.  Time  is  saved  by  good  ploughing  and  neat 
planting. 


PREPARATION   OF   LAND   AND   PLANTING.  35 


2.  Preparation  of  Land  and  Planting. 

Last  night,  I  gave  you  tlie  preparation  and  planting  of  the 
cotton  crop  ;  yet  I  could  not,  in  the  length  of  one  article, 
give  more  than  a  rapid  survey.  I  prefer  short  articles,  and 
yet  it  is  best  to  be  particular,  even  minute — though  there  is 
even  here  an  objection — for  a  writer  should  leave  something 
for  his  readers  to  think  of.  When  I  plant  oats  land,  land  that 
was  the  year  previous  to  rest,  or  corn  land,  I  invariably  break 
up  into  large  beds,  size  according  to  width  of  rows  to  be  planted, 
so  as  to  throw  water-furrow  of  the  flushing  as  a  water-furrow 
of  the  row.  When  four  feet  rows,  I  run  off  land  thirty-two 
feet,  and  keep  farrows  as  straight  as  possible,  on  level  land. 
I  then  lay  off  rows,  always  with  a  shovel-plough,  and  then 
two  furrows  as  before.  Sometimes  I  open  out  water-furrow 
of  old  rows,  as  deep  as  two  mules  can  draw  a  shovel-plough ; 
bed  up  to  this  entire,  then  open  out  a  new  water-furrow  deep, 
and  reverse  two  farrows  with  a  one-horse  plough.  I  am  sat- 
isfied that  there  is  no  land  I  plant  but  what  is  materially 
benefited  by  breaking  up  with  a  two-horse  plough,  then  bed 
up  with  a  one-horse  plough — thus  all  trash,  grass,  seed,  &c., 
is  well  buried  below  the  one-horse  plough  furrow.  I  use  a 
piece  of  wood  two  to  three  feet  long,  running  level  on  the 
land,  the  front  end  shod  with  iron,  for  the  purpose  of  opening 
out  furrows  for  planting  seed.  My  object  is  to  make  a  clean, 
straight  furrow,  and  impact  the  loose  earth.  This  stick  of 
wood  is  rounded  below,  and  fastened  to  a  shovel-plough  stock. 
The  straighter  the  row  on  level  land,  or  the  more  regular  on 
rolling  land,  if  circling  be  practised,  the  closer  can  the  scraper 
be  run — thus  giving  less  labor  to  hoe  hands.  And  if  cotton 
seed  be  scattered  very  regular,  so  as  to  give  a  stand,  no  stalks 
touching,  the  hoe  hand  can  thin  out  faster,  and  thus  save  time. 


36  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

If  I  were  able  to  plant  my  cotton  crop  with  the  neatness 
and  order  with  which  Col.  Wade  Hampton  plants  his  crop, 
I  believe  I  could  cultivate  an  acre  or  two  more  per  hand. 
Being  in  company  with  him  in  1847,  on  a  steamboa^,  we  dis- 
cussed the  subject  of  planting  for  hours,  and  he  assured  me 
that  all  his  furrows  were  opened  out  for  planting  with  the 
corner  of  the  hoe,  narrow  and  straight.  If  I  could  drop  seed 
in  a  furrow  only  an  inch  wide  and  quite  straight,  I  think  I 
could  manage  two  acres  of  scraping  per  day  to  each  full  hand. 
I  regard  planting  a  crop,  if  done  in  the  best  manner,  more  in 
the  light  of  half  cultivated,  than  many  would  believe.  I  have 
scraped  three  acres  in  a  day.  I  can  dirt  easily  four  acres  per 
horse ;  and  can,  with  the  solid  sweep,  break  out  four  to  nine 
acres  per  horse,  owing  to  whether  rows  be  four  or  five  feet 
wide — thus,  besides  tlfe  earthing  furrow,  it  requires  one  or 
two  to  sweep  out  the  middle.  But  land  has  to  be  put  in  good 
order,  and  seed  planted  in  order.  This  matter  has  called  for 
many  a  line  from  my  pen  in  the  different  papers  I  have  writ- 
ten for,  and  I  must  be  pardoned  for  thus  dwelling  so  long.  It 
is  really  no  interest  of  mine  whether  planters  cultivate  well 
or  ill ;  whether  they  can  cultivate  a  fair  crop  easily,  or  not,  I 
cannot  be  benefited.  Yet,  as  a  citizen  of  this  beautiful  world 
— as  a  sojourner  in  this  southern  clime — I  feel  an  abiding 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  my  fellows.  Therefore,  I  say,  if 
planters  will  devote  more  care  and  attention  in  tilling  their 
lands,  and  in  putting  in  their  crops  in  a  good  manner,  they 
will  be  able  to  make  more,  and  yet  spare  their  servants  and 
their  beasts  much  labor  in  the  cultivation. 

Look  at  the  garden.  Take  one  bed  and  trench  it — spade 
up  two  spades  deep,  reversing  the  soil  even,  what  will  be  the 
result  ?  But  suppose  the  first  spit  be  laid  one  side,  then  the 
second  spit  well  and  finely  dug  up,  the  first  returned  reversed, 
or  thoroughly  mixed — will  not  that  bed  be  more  or  less  moist 


CULTIVATION  OF  THE   CROP.  37 

all  the  year  ?  And  if  there  is  a  chance  for  water  to  pass  off, 
will  it  not  be  fit  to  work  after  a  rain,  sooner  than  any  part  of 
the  garden  ?  And  must  it  not,  of  necessity,  produce  better  ? 

I  admit  a  planter  cannot  plant  so  great  a  crop,  but  he  will 
need  much  less  to  make  an  equal  crop. 

The  misfortune  is,  the  body  of  the  cotton  planters  want  a 
large  crop,  and  will  not  be  at  the  expense  of  team  and  tools. 
Would  they  not  ridicule  the  carpenter  who,  instead  of  getting 
.tools  to  tongue  and  groove  his  flooring,  would  attempt  to  rabit 
each  side  of  plank,  or  to  dig  grooves,  and  then  dig  for  a  tongue 
with  a  chisel  ?  And  yet,  though  not  quite  so  absurd,  planters 
act.  What  difference  in  cost,  in  twenty  years,  if  a  planter 
buys  six  shovels,  six  one-horse  turning-ploughs,  three  two- 
horse  turning-ploughs,  six  scrapers,  six  harrows,  or  to  buy  all 
turn-ploughs  ?  These  same  ploughs  will  last  by  changing — 
those  not  used  to  be  taken  care  of — as  long  as  the  same 
number  of  one  kind,  and  for  all  work.  Think  ye,  and  judge 


3.  Cultivation  of  the  Crop. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — I  have  seen  cotton  cultivated  these  thirty 
or  more  years ;  I  have  read  pretty  much  all  that  has  been 
written  upon  the  subject  since  1819,  and  I  have  tried  many 
experiments.  So  far,  I  know  no  better  way  to  proceed  in  the 
culture  than  the  plan  I  now  pursue,  and  is  pursued  generally 
in  this  section.  Who  deserves  the  credit  for  the  plan,  I  know 
not ;  nor  do  I  know  from  whence  it  came.  To  cultivate  a  full 
crop,  we  must  rely  on  the  plough ;  if  we  use  ploughs  adapted 
to  the  work,  I  can  see  no  objection.  And,  as  to  scraping 
cotton,  the  best  planters  of  this  part  of  Mississippi  not  only  do 
it,  but  they  are  falling  into  the  plan  of  even  scraping  corn. 


38  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

But  to  our  work.  I  never  plant  all  cotton  land  at  once ,  1 
prefer  much  to  plant,  say  one-half  about  the  1st  of  April,  and 
in  ten  days  the  residue. 

So  soon  as  I  see  enough  cotton  up  to  make  a  stand,  I  begin 
to  scrape,  by  starting  a  scraper,  which,  if  in  good  order  and 
beds  well  made,  will  shave  the  bed  to  within  one  inch  of  the 
plant,  and  cover  all  the  grass  in  the  middle  of  a  four-foot  row. 
And  here  will  be  seen  the  great  gain  in  throwing  up  a  ridge 
and  planting  seed  straight  on  a  clean  bed.  Hoe  hands  follow, 
and  scrape  the  entire  remaining  surface  of  the  ridge,  leaving 
none  of  the  surface  to  grow  grass,  chopping  through  the  row 
so  as  to  leave  either  a  stand  at  the  right  distance,  say  two  or 
three,  or  four  stalks,  or  else  leaving  a  double  stand.  By  be- 
ginning early,  the  surface  is  cleaner,  and  it  is  much  less  difficult 
to  clean  around  the  plant,  than  when  grass  and  weeds  have 
started.  And  here  let  me  say,  I  used  the  best  steel-bladed 
hoes  sold  by  A.  B.  Allen,  in  New  York,  and  by  S.  Frank- 
lin, in  New  Orleans.  I  do  not  like  the  largest  size.  These 
hoes  can  be  ground  on  a  grind-stone  every  two  or  three  days, 
and  a  flat  file  used  daily  will  keep  them  quite  sharp. 

My  hoes  having  made  a  start,  the  earth  being  dry  enough 
to  crumble  after  a  plough,  I  start  bull-tongue  ploughs  im- 
mediately after,  and  dirt  the  cotton,  endeavoring  to  finish  in 
a  d^iy  or  so  after  the  hoes ;  thus,  I  have  my  cotton  clean  and 
earthed ;  it  is  protected  from  grass,  and  the  light  earth  pro- 
tects from  the  cold  nights  in  May.  Besides  this,  the  deep 
narrow  furrows  made  by  the  bull-tongue  plough  serve  to  drain 
the  narrow  ridge  left.  This  certainly  gives  a  warmer  bed 
for  cotton,  and  in  throwing  light  earth,  grass  vegetates  much 
slower. 

Sometimes  I  scrape  the  second  time,  though  the  plough 
riot  preceding;  when  I  do  not,  and  the  earth  is  comparatively 
clean,  I  start  a  small  shovel-plough  again  to  dirt,  and  the 


CULTIVATION   OF  THE   CROP.  39 

"hoes  follow,  to  clean  and  level  the  earth  on  the  ridge,  making 
it  a  point  to  clean  the  row  perfectly.  Never  cover  grass  un- 
less it  is  very  small. 

After  this,  I  use  sweeps,  cultivators,  shovels,  harrows,  &c. 
— very  seldom  a  turning-plough — and  at  every  working  with 
plough,  throw  a  little  earth ;  every  working  of  hoe,  scrape  a 
little  off,  so  as  to  keep  my  bed  about  the  same  height.  Cotton 
requiring  a  dry  bed,  not  a  high  ridge ;  I  therefore  never  dra\v 
up  earth  with  hoes. 

After  the  first  earthing,  the  main  principle  is  to  keep  clean 
and  stir  the  earth  every  fourteen  to  twenty  days ;  and  con- 
tinue this  even  to  the  picking,  if  on  good,  light,  moist  land. 
Better  to  break  a  few  limbs  of  the  plant,  than  to  stop  the 
ploughs  too  early. 

I  am  opposed  to  waiting  for  the  plant  to  have  the  third  or 
fifth  leaf  before  scraping ;  too  much  time  is  lost,  grass  gets 
some  strength,  and  it  is  more  tedious  to  clean  the  crop  ;  besides, 
the  plant  is  checked  in  growth,  and  almost  invariably  turns 
yellow  after  scraping.  I  also  oppose  scraping,  if  left  two 
weeks  before  earthing  the  plant.  I  regard  scraping  as  essen- 
tial to  the  cleaning  a  crop  of  eight  or  ten  acres  per  hand ;  but 
the  plant  should  receive  earth  as  soon  after  as  possible.  I 
have  scraped  and  earthed  with  the  hoe  as  I  scraped,  but  this 
is  again  too  slow.  Scrape  or  clean  off  grass  and  weeds  with 
the  hoe,  and  dirt  with  the  plough,  is  the  principle.  The  ob- 
ject is  to  keep  the  young  plant  thrifty,  that  it  may  stand  up 
against  the  louse.  I  would  not  speak  as  ex  cathedra,  nor 
in  that  tone;  yet  I  give  my  opinions  as  is  natural  to  me,  using 
no  parlez  vous  phrases. 

As  regards  lice  and  sore  shin,  the  first  is  a  never-failing  at- 
tendant of  the  cotton  plant ;  but  when  the  plant  is  healthy,  the 
lice  do  not  check  the  growth,  nor  do  the  things  breed  so  fast. 
They  are  worse  upon  early  planted  or  badty  cultivated  land, 


40  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

because  the  cold  checks  the  growth,  and  if  cultivated  in  mud 
and  water,  a  similar  result.  Sore  shin,  I  think,  is  caused  by 
injury  from  the  hoe,  and  cultivation  when  land  is  wet.  Some 
seasons,  both  of  these  are  worse  than  others.  An  early,  warm 
season,  with  sound  seed,  we  are  but  little  annoyed;  thus 
showing  the  fault  is  our  own.  I  have  never  been  annoyed 
but  one  year,  and  then  I  had  a  very  smart  overseer,  who  got 
ready  to  plant  before  he  icas  ready. 


4.  Cultivation  of  the  Crop — continued. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — There  are  many  requisites  to  making  a  good 
crop,  and  the  most  of  them  are  within  the  reach  of  every 
planter,  whether  he  plants  for  the  one,  or  the  one  thousand 
bales.  And,  having  tested  many  experiments,  I  hope  I  may 
be  of  some  service  in  drawing  attention  thereto. 

The  use  of  manures  has  been  so  fully  set  forth  by  our 
friend,  Dr.  Cloud,  of  Alabama,  that  it  would  seem  a  work  of 
supererogation  to  allude  thereto ;  yet,  I  may  have  some 
friends  who  would  be  guided  by  me,  and  as  they  might  not  be 
touched  by  the  Doctor's  able  articles,  I  beg  to  say  :  As  early 
as  1817,  in  Chester  District,  S.  C.,  when  boarding  with  my  ven- 
erated friend,  Mr.  Harbinson,  I  saw  the  most  marked  differ- 
ence as  to  yield  of  cotton,  caused  by  manure,  that  I  ever  remem- 
ber to  have  seen.  In  1842  or  '43,  I  tested  stable  manure  and 
cotton  seed  as  a  manure ;  an  unbelieving  aged  friend,  as  also 
quite  a  number  of  young  planters,  were  called  upon  to  express 
an  opinion — it  was,  that  a  500  Ib.  bale  was  the  product ; 
whereas,  without  manure,  not  one-half  was  growing,  adjacent. 
I  do  not  believe  any  manure  can  increase  the  yield  of  some 
of  our  western  river  bottoms,  in  that  proportion  ;  yet,  upon 
thin  land,  I  feel  very  certain  that  it  can  be  done.  I  use  cot 


CULTIVATION   OF   THE   CROP.  41 

ton  seed  scattered  in  the  drill,  and  then  beds  made  thereupon, 
and  always  with  a  favorable  result. 

It  is,  I  admit,  a  tedious  process  to  haul  out  three  or  four 
hundred  bushels  of  stable  manure  ;  but  not  less  so  is  it  to 
clear,  fence,  and  break  up  new  ground — nor  more  tedious  than 
pulling  up  stakes,  severing  all  the  tender  endearments  of 
"  mine  own,  my  native  land,"  to  seek,  at  a  heavy  cost  of  time 
and  money,  a  home  in  the  western  wilds,  there  to  suffer  from 
the  combined  attacks  of  mosquitoes  and  fever  and  ague !  I  have 
been  on  this  spot  for  nineteen  years — settled  within  twenty- 
five  feet  from  where  I  now  write,  January,  1831 — and  have 
had  some  experience  with  bread  from  a  steel  mill,  rolling  logs, 
shaking  with  the  ague,  lost  in  a  cane  brake,  and  lying  by  the 
side  of  a  log  all  night.  I  only  say,  to  all  dissatisfied  with  the 
old  farmstead — go  to  work  honestly,  save  all  manures,  plough 
deep,  sow  down  peas,  rest  your  land,  and  be  a  part  of  that 
land. 

Another  adjunct  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph — 
deep  ploughing,  and  really  breaking  up  the  entire  surface,  not 
leaving  any  unbroken  earth.  Remember  the  mine  that  was 
left  to  a  son,  in  his  father's  field  !  The  youth  thought  that 
gold  had  been  buried — he  went  to  work  with  the  spade,  and 
dug  up  every  inch,  but  no  gold !  He  had  to  eat,  and  there- 
fore planted — the  product  amazed  him— he  continued,  and 
found  the  treasure — industry  and  good  culture ! 

If  the  labor  bestowed  in  California,  with  pickaxes,  spades, 
&c.,  &c.,  was  made  available  in  the  slaveholding  States,  I 
believe  the  mines  of  Golconda  and  the  wealth  of  Croesus, 
would  fail  to  give  an  idea  of  the  result. 

And  I  fully  believe  that  frequent,  deep,  and  effectual 
ploughing,  before  planting,  will  do  great  good.  One  of  the 
most  successful  planters  in  Hinds  County,  Miss.,  always  bed- 
ded up  and  reversed  his  beds  before  planting. 


42  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

I  do  not  regard  some  of  our  large  crop-masters  as  worthy  of 
imitation — they  make  eight,  ten,  aye,  twelve  bales  per  hand, 
but  it  is  by  working  negroes,  and  wasting  land. 

Alternation  of  crops  has  a  powerful  influence,  and  is  of  great 
benefit  to  the  planter,  if  he  will  plant  in  four-fold  rotation,  cot- 
ton, corn,  grain,  and  rest — absolute  rest.  I  do  not  call  it 
resting  land  to  graze  it.  It  would  be  as  well  to  cut  off  the 
crop,  and  better,  as  the  ground  will  not  then  be  injured  by 
trampling  in  wet  weather. 

Sowing  peas  (two  to  three  pecks  per  acre)  when  corn  is 
laid  by,  will  give  shade  to  the  land,  and  a  large  amount  of 
manure.  Peas  gather  sustenance  from  the  air  as  well  as 
the  land,  and  thus  you  return  all  to  the  land  taken  up  by  the 
pea,  and  more  too.  I  am  constrained  to  believe  that  a  dense 
shade  of  pea  vines  will  benefit  land,  even  if  every  stem  of  the 
pea  could  be  removed  the  first  killing  frost. 

And  last,  though  not  least,  I  regard  selecting  of  seed,  duly 
curing  before  being  bulked,  as  an  important  aid  to  the  health 
and  growth  and  productiveness  of  the  crop.  Why  should  not 
increase  of  vitality  in  cotton  seed  be  beneficial,  as  well  as 
sound  and  healthy  parents  to  a  sound  issue  ?  I  admit  I  am 
interested  in  this  being  promulgated — but  I  hope  not  more  than 
what  all  others  should  be.  I  am  so  well  satisfied  of  the  fact, 
that  I  have  been  purchasing  seed  for  fifteen  years  or  more. 
True,  I  have,  in  1848-9,  sold  largely — but  others  are  bene- 
fited as  much  as  I  have  been.  Yours,  with  respect, 

M.   W.    PHILIPS. 


NEWBUBY  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  REPORT.      43 


SECTION  V. — REPORT  ON  COTTON,  TO  THE  NEWBUBY 
AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

From  the  South  Carolinian. 

THE  Committee  on  Cotton  respectfully  report :  That  the 
complete  and  thorough  preparation  of  the  soil  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  a  successful  cotton  crop.  As  early,  therefore, 
in  the  season,  after  the  crop  is  gathered,  as  is  practicable,  the 
land  should  be  broken  up,  deep  and  thoroughly.  On  clay 
soils  it  renders  the  ground  loose  and  friable,  and  when  stubble 
ground  is  planted,  it  is  necessary  to  turn  the  sod  early,  in  order 
to  hasten  the  decomposition  of  the  grasses  and  weeds.  The 
beds  ^should  be  made  from  three  to  five  feet  wide,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  soil,  and,  if  manuring  is  intended,  they  should 
be  opened  by  a  deep  furrow,  and  the  manure  deposited  and 
covered,  by  lapping  on  two  good  furrows.  Unfermented  com- 
post manure,  if  applied  early  to  clay  soils,  and  buried  with  the 
plough,  will  be  found  most  beneficial.  It  serves  to  keep  the 
ground  loose  and  friable,  thereby  giving  access  to  heat,  air 
and  moisture,  the  three  great  agents  of  nutrition  •  and,  in  un- 
dergoing fermentation,  it  imparts  warmth  to  the  soil,  which, 
in  the  early  stage  of  the  crop,  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
forward  its  growth.  In  making  the  compost  heap,  almost 
everything  is  available.  Leaves  and  straw,  which  have  been 
deposited  in  the  stables  and  farm-yard,  and  ashes,  should  all 
be  incorporated  in  the  same  heap.  The  compost  recommended 
by  the  Committee  on  Manures  at  your  last  annual  meeting,  is 
an  excellent  preparation  for  this  crop.  By  furnishing  the 
hogs,  when  put  up  for  fattening,  with  an  abundant  supply  of 
litter,  a  large  quantity  of  this  excellent  compost  manure  can 
easily  be  made. 


44 

When  the  same  land  is  again  planted  in  cotton,  a  Jeep  and 
broad  furrow  should  be  opened  with  a  large  two-horse  Eagle- 
plough,  but  if  this  plough  is  not  available,  then  a  substitute 
may  be  made  by  using  a  large  twister,  drawn  by  two  horses, 
and  passing  up  and  down  until  the  furrow  is  opened  to  a  suf- 
ficient depth.  In  it  should  be  deposited  the  cotton  stalks,  and 
a  bed  be  made  upon  them  by  throwing  up  and  completely 
covering  them. 

Early  in  March  the  beds  should  be  prepared  for  planting, 
and  to  do  this  most  effectually,  a  two-horse  iron-toothed  har- 
row, if  passed  over  them,  will  reduce  the  land  to  a  thorough 
state  of  pulverization.  Follow  this  with  a  marker,  making  a 
small  seed-furrow  in  the  middle  of  the  bed.  The  seed  should 
be  rolled,  previous  to  planting,  in  a  preparation  of  ashes,  stable 
manure,  and  water,  which  is  easily  done,  and  embodies  two 
distinct  advantages.  It  enables  them,  when  drilled,  to  assume 
a  separate  position,  and  also  acts  as  a  stimulant,  which  is  very 
much  required  in  the  early  stage  of  its  growth.  We  feel  con- 
fident, if  this  course  of  preparation  were  generally  observed, 
we  would  hear  less  of  bad  stands,  and  the  various  complaints 
amongst  our  cotton  planters  every  spring.  The  seed,  when 
rolled,  should  be  planted  while  moist,  and  immediately  cov- 
ered lightly.  For  this  purpose  we  use  a  board,  three  feet 
long,  slightly  hollowed,  which  makes  a  clean  sweep  across  the 
bed,  leaving  it  in  fine  condition.  A  small  harrow  also  answers 
a  good  purpose.  As  soon  as  a  stand  makes  its  appearance,  the 
barring-plough  should  be  run  round,  and  followed  immediately 
with  the  hoes,  the  crop  cut  down  to  the  proper  distance,  say  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  inches,  and  the  grass  and  weeds  along  the 
ridge  destroyed.  Then  follow,  with  a  suitable  plough,  at  such 
a  distance  as  will  throw  off  the  dirt  from  the  cotton  into  the 
middle  or  water-furrow,  thus  covering  up  the  grass  and  weeds. 
The  hoes  should  immediately  follow,  leaving  rather  more  than 


NEWBURY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY   REPORT.  45 

a  full  stand.  The  second  and  after  ploughings  should  be  more 
light,  and,  as  the  principal  benefit  which  the  crop  derives  is 
from  keeping  the  crop  loose,  and  free  from  grass  and  weeds  ; 
the  expanding  cultivator,  in  a  season  not  too  wet,  will  be 
found  the  best  implement  which  can  be  used  for  this  purpose. 
It  will  finish  the  row  by  running  once  through  it,  thus  saving 
a  good  deal  of  labor  in  the  crop,  and  the  gsound  is  left  in  a 
better  condition  than  from  the  use  of  any  other  plough.  Cot- 
ton is  more  benefited  than  any  other  crop  by  rapid  working, 
and,  in  order  to  enable  the  planter  to  go  over  as  often  as  his 
crop  requires  it,  he  should  adopt  the  plan  of  only  partially 
ploughing  out  the  rows,  and  returning  in  a  short  time  to  finish 
the  work.  This,  the  use  of  the  cultivator  will  enable  him  to 
do,  on  lands  free  from  stumps  and  roots,  but  as  it  would  be 
impracticable  on  soils  where  such  obstructions  existed,  the 
use  of  broad  shovel-ploughs  and  sweeps,  applied  in  the  man- 
ner recommended,  would  be  of  great  gain  to  the  crop.  The 
cotton  crop  should  be  ploughed  at  least  every  ten  days,  and  a 
furrow  or  two  seems  to  keep  this  plant  in  as  good  growing 
condition,  as  if  the  entire  row  is  regularly  ploughed  out.  This 
season,  a  shovel-plough  or  a  sweep  would  only  have  cultivated 
the  grass,  and  those  planters  who  used  large  turning-ploughs, 
and,  by  completely  subverting  the  soil,  smothered  the  grass, 
have  succeeded  in  keeping  their  crops  cleanest.  In  a  dry 
year,  the  process  of  superficial  ploughing,  or  scarification,  by 
the  use  of  the  cultivator  or  sweeps,  will  answer  an  admirable 
purpose,  and  be  the  proper  system  of  tillage,  but  in  a  wet 
season  we  have  no  fears  in  recommending  the  heavy  turning- 
ploughs,  for  the  economical  cultivation  of  cotton.  All  this, 
however,  is  to  be  controlled  by  the  season,  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  soil  for  the  reception  of  the  crop.  Deep  ploughing 
does  no  good  in  the  middle  of  the  rows,  when  the  soil  upon 
which  the  plants  stand  has  not  been  broken  up  deep.  Conr 


46 

mon  sense  points  out  to  us  that  cotton,  from  its  long,  pene- 
trating tap  root,  and  the  almost  entire,  absence  of  lateral 
feeders,  should  be  planted  on  soil  of  great  depth  of  tilth,  and, 
if  this  is  furnished,  we  would  open  new  feeding  grounds  to  tho 
plant,  and  thus,  perhaps  without  the  aid  of  manure  on  many 
soils,  add  to  the  amount  of  yield. 

By  the  1st  of  August  all  the  cultivation  of  the  crop  should 
be  finished,  and  from  the  29th  of  July  to  the  middle  of  August 
tho  cotton  should  he  topped.  This  will  cause  the  stalks  to 
expand  and  perfect  more  bolls,  and  amply  repay  for  the  little 
labor  which  is  consumed  in  effecting  it.  There  are  ;i  great 
many  varieties  of  cotton  cultivated,  and  the,  IVtit  (lulf  kinds 
are  generally  highly  esteemed.  Perhaps  the  McNutt  is  upon 
the  whole  to  be  preferred,  as  it  bolls  well,  and  is  of  early 
maturity;  but  it  is  generally  known  that  all  the  varieties 
deteriorate  after  five  or  six  years'  culture,  and  it  is  there- 
fore advisable  to  renew  the  seed,  by  introducing  the  most 
approved  varieties  from  the  Gulf  region.  The  little  ex- 
pense which  attends  this  amply  repays  tho  increased  pro- 
duct of  the  crop.  The  Mastodon  cotton  was  tried  here  last 
season  under  unfavorable  circumstances.  The  piece  of  ground 
planted  was  wet,  and  as  the  seed  was  used  sparingly,  a  bad 
stand  was  the  result.  The  product,  however,  was  found  to 
be  a  remarkably  good  yield  for  the  stand,  and  of  early  matu- 
rity, fully  as  early  as  the  McNutt,  which  grew  beside  it. 
Should  this  variety,  upon  further  trial  this  season,  be  found 
equally  well  adapted  to  our  climate,  as  the  other  short  staple 
cottons,  it  will  add  much  to  repay  the  planter  for  his  labor. 

The  plan  of  cultivation  adopted  by  Dr.  Cloud*  was  tried 
here  during  the  unfavorable  season  of  1845.  The  manure 
deposited  was  not,  owing  to  the  drought,  available  to  the  crop, 

*  See  "  South  Carolinian"  of  Nov.  7,  1846. 


NKWIU'UV    AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY    KKl'oiiT.  <\i 

but  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  succeeding  crop  of 
corn.  The  experiment  even  then  would  have  warranted  its 
continuance,  as  by  this  system  of  manuring,  the  poor  soils  of  our 
State  would  be  annually  improved,  instead  of  being  impover- 
ished as  they  are,  under  the  ruinous  course  generally  pursued. 
Something  should  be  done  to  restore  the  soil  in  sonic,  degree 
to  its  original  fertility,  and  this  can  only  be  effected  by  a 
judicious  and  industrious  course  of  manuring, 

We  know  that  there  are  many  notions  prevalent  respecting 
a  diminution  of  the  cotton  crop,  and  that  the  main  objections 
to  the  cotton  culture  consist  in  the  difficulty  of  continuing  it 
extensively,  and  at  the  same  time  carrying  out  such  a  proper 
system  of  manuring  and  rotation,  as  will  certainly  and  gradu- 
ally improve  our  exhausted  fields.  This  is  an  objection  well 
founded,  and  if  wo  were  threatened  with  a  dense  population 
which  would  consume  as  much  food  as  the  land  would  produce, 
it  would  be  high  time  to  cast  about  for  other  systems  of  tillage. 
We  are,  however,  riot  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the  cotton 
culture  is  incompatible  with  the  improvement  of  the  soil,  and 
instead  of  recommending  our  planters  to  decrease  the  number 
of  their  bales,  we  only  go  so  far  as  to  advise  them  to  produce 
a  greater  number  upon  fewer  acres  than  they  now  cultivate. 
When  we  reflect  that  the  limits  of  our  Society  embrace  the 
very  best  cotton  region  in  South  Carolina  we  are  loth  to  see 
a  culture  decline  which,  in  the  days  of  past  prosperity,  has 
added  so  much  wealth  to  our  district.  When  cotton  was  first 
cultivated  in  this  district,  one  bale  to  the  acre  was  the  average 
yield.  The  same  amount  can  now  by  judicious  manuring  bo 
produced  on  every  acre  of  land  which  in  its  virgin  fertility 
yielded  that  quantity.  The  labor  of  clearing  an  acre  of  forest, 
will  always  be  sufficient  to  make  an  acre  of  worn-out  land 
better  than  the  new  ground  would  be  for  the  production  of 
any  crop,  and  an  acre  thus  restored,  would  substantially  add 


48  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

that  amount  of  capital  to  the  wealth  of  the  country.  The 
individual  wealth  of  citizens  has  no  beneficial  tendency  upon 
the  people  of  the  nation,  the  contrary  being  the  general  effect. 
To  the  general  prosperity  alone  can  we  attribute  national 
greatness. 

When  our  small  farmers  become  impressed  with  the  neces- 
sity of  cultivating  their  lands  properly,  and  tilling  them  like 
gardens,  they  will  soon  render  themselves  independent  of  the 
fluctuations  of  the  markets  and  the  times,  and  to  all  such  we 
say,  take  your  poorest  acres,  manure  at  least  one,  and,  if  you 
can,  every  one,  plough  deep,  and  bestow  as  much  labor  on  one- 
half  the  number  of  acres  you  now  cultivate  as  you  do  upon 
all,  and  before  a  young  man  grows  old,  he  will  own  a  farm 
which  will  be  a  credit  to  his  industry,  and  a  rich  legacy  to 
his  children. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

WM.  SUMMER,  Chairman. 
Pomaria,  S.  C. 


SECTION   VI. — EEPORT  TO   THE   UNION   (S.  C.)    AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY   ON   COTTON. 

THE  Committee  on  Cotton  beg  leave  to  make  the  following 
report  :  That  the  cultivation  of  cotton  has  so  long  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  country — aided  by  all  the  sagacity  of  in- 
terest— as  one  of  the  leading  staples  of  the  State,  that  it  would 
be  very  difficult  to  advance  anything  new  or  instructive  ;  but 
that  the  remarks  which  they  propose  to  make,  must  neces- 
sarily be  general  and  trite.  They  would  remark  in  the  first 
instance,  on  the  importance  of  procuring  the  best  seed.  Ex- 
perience has  established  the  fact,  that  the  quality  of  any 
article  of  produce  may  be  improved  by  care  in  the  selection 


UNION   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY   REPORT.  49 

of  seed,  in  a  climate  congenial  to  its  growth.  It  is  a  very- 
general  law  of  nature,  that  the  offspring  inherits  the  good  or 
bad  qualities  of  its  parent ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  like  pro- 
duces like.  This  is  more  particularly  true,  when  applied  to 
the  vegetable  kingdom.  This  section  of  country  is  not  re- 
garded as  the  best  adapted  to  the  growth  of  the  cotton  plant. 
The  best  efforts  at  selection  from  our  own  seed  might  not, 
'therefore,  be  entirely  successful,  but  still  the  Committee  re- 
commend it,  as  the  best  counter-agent  against  the  degeneracy 
of  climate — as  the  best  means  of  preserving  the  seeds  in  their 
primitive  purity.  The  Committee  would  therefore,  also,  ear- 
nestly recommend  the  frequent  renewal  of  seed  from  the  Petit 
Gulf  countries.  In  the  selection  of  seed  from  our  cotton,  it 
should  be  made  from  the  second  crop  of,  or  middle  bolls — the 
bolls  on  the  lower  limbs  being  generally  small,  and  the  seed 
more  or  less  defective.  The  season  for  the  growth  of  cotton 
is  too  short  in  this  latitude  to  admit  of  its  attaining  to  perfect 
maturity.  Early  planting  is,  therefore,  very  important.  The 
planting  should  be  so  early,  if  practicable,  as  will  just  enable 
the  young  plant  to  escape  the  blight  of  frost.  It  is  true,  that 
sometimes  late  cotton,  owing  to  the  seasons,  is  most  product- 
ive, but  the  chances  are  clearly  against  it. 

The  preparation  of  land  for  cotton,  should  claim  the  early 
attention  of  the  farmer  or  planter,  in  several  points  of  view. 
It  increases  the  productiveness  of  the  land,  and  consequently, 
the  amount  of  the  crop ;  it  abridges  the  quantum  of  labor  ne- 
cessary to  its  proper  cultivation  ;  and  it  is  requisite  for  the 
reception  of  the  seed.  The  Committee  deem  it  unnecessary  to 
enter  into  the  minutiae  of  this  subject,  as  both  its  importance 
and  process  are  well  understood,  but  will  proceed  to  remark 
on  the  mode  and  manner  of  obtaining  a  good  stand  of  cotton, 
without  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  make  a  full  crop. 
Besides  the  selection  of  seed,  and  preparation  of  land,  before 
3 


50  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

adverted  to,  it  is  necessary  that  the  seed  be  dropped  regularly 
in  the  centre  of  the  opening  farrow,  and  with  rather  too  pro- 
fuse, than  too  sparing  a  hand ;  and  then,  covered .  carefully 
quite  over,  without  displacement,  with  the  soil,  though  not 
deep ;  using  the  harrow,  or  one-horse  double  bull-tongue 
plough  for  that  purpose,  after  the  Fairfield  manner.  If  it  is 
very  dry,  the  latter  is  preferable,  from  the  fact  that  it  leaves 
a  sharp  ridge  directly  over  the  seed,  thus  preventing  the 
ground  from  baking ;  and  covering  deeper,  secures  a  suf- 
ficiency of  moisture  for  germination,  and,  consequently,  a  good 
stand  of  cotton. 

There  is  some  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  distance  that 
should  be  given  to  cotton.  The  greater  the  number  of  stalks 
that  can  stand  on  any  given  quantity  of  land,  without  inter- 
fering with  each  other,  will  make  the  maximum  amount  of 
cotton  of  which  that  land  is  capable.  The  Committee  therefore 
suggest,  that  the  rows  of  cotton  be  placed  sufficiently  close 
to  quite  cover  the  ground ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  they  be 
placed  closer  or  wider,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  ground. 
Thus,  on  poor  land,  the  rows  will  increase  so  rapidly  on  any 
given  numbers  of  acres,  as  to  make  them  approach  much 
nearer,  in  the  amount  of  their  production,  to  rich  land,  than  is 
generally  supposed. 

The  Committee  will  merely  allude  to  the  improvement  of 
land  generally,  by  manuring  or  otherwise,  as  being  intimately 
connected  with  the  growing  of  cotton — as  that  subject  more 
properly  comes  within  the  province  of  another  committee 
of  the  Society,  They  will  only  remark,  that  to  grow  cot- 
ton advantageously  in  this  section  of  country,  it  must  be  done 
on  fresh  or  manured  lands.  And  thus,  they  have,  in  a  very 
summary  manner,  disposed  of  the  most  important  matters  pre- 
liminary to  the  cultivation  or  the  management  of  the  cotton 
crop  itself. 


UNION   AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY   REPORT.  51 

The  Committee  might,  with  propriety,  rest  their  labors 
here,  from  the  fact,  that  to  say  anything  of  the  subsequent 
management  of  the  crop  is  almost  an  act  of  supererogation. 
They,  therefore,  only  propose  to  throw  out  a  suggestion  or  so 
for  consideration.  A  greater  proportion  of  labor  is  bestowed 
on  the  cotton  crop  than  any  other,  particularly  on  large  planta- 
tions, where  it  is  usual  to  plough  four  times,  and  close  hoe  at 
least  three,  and  in  some  years  oftener.  It  has  occurred  to  the 
Committee  that  a  good  portion  of  this  labor  might  be  saved, 
by  dispensing  with  close  hoeing  partially,  or  altogether,  ac- 
cording to  the  field  or  year.  The  mode  of  proceeding  is 
this :  the  hoe  is  made  to  follow  the  plough  at  the  requisite 
distance,  to  ascertain  what  grass  is  killed  by  it — passing  over 
all  that  portion  of  the  row  where  the  plough  has  done  its 
work  properly — and  using  the  hoe  only  on  the  large  bunches 
of  grass,  or  such  as  may  impede  the  growth  of  the  cotton — 
thus  relying  on  the  plough  to  kill  all  the  smaller  grass. 
Some  of  the  Committee  have  tried  this  plan  of  cultivation, 
and  so  far  it  has  worked  well. 

It  is  a  problem  not  properly  solved,  whether  it  is  advisable 
to  plough  cotton  approaching  to  maturation,  or  after  it  has 
attained  to  good  size,  with  a  fall  crop  of  forms  on  it.  Your 
Committee  think  that  to  plough  it,  as  in  the  case  of  corn  after 
tasselling  and  silking,  though  it  might  not,  with  good  seasons, 
and  under  favorable  circumstances  injure,  but  possibly  im- 
prove it,  yet  it  would  be  risking  too  much.  On  the  whole, 
they  are  opposed  to  late  ploughing  under  the  scorching  sun 
of  August. 

A  variety  of  ploughs  have  been  invented,  with  a  view  to 
their  adaptation  to  the  culture  of  cotton,  but  they  have  been 
pretty  generally  discarded.  The  scraper,  or  Eagle-plough,  as 
it  is  sometimes  called,  is  the  best — answering  some  years  and 
on  some  lands  an  excellent  purpose — but  its  general  utility 


52  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

is  doubted.  We  should  not,  however,  despond  of  others  bet- 
ter adapted,  when  we  consider  the  great  inventive  genius  of 
the  age.  In  conclusion,  the  Committee  recommend  a  gradual 
reduction  of  the  cotton  crop,  to  such  point  as  will  admit  of 
the  improvement  of  lands,  particularly — and  generally,  of 
improvement  in  such  matters  and  things  as  appertain  to  the 
general  economy  of  a  farm.  All  of  which  is  respectfully 
submitted. 

JOHN  GIST,  Chairman. 


CHAPTER    II. 


DR.  N.  B.  CLOUD'S   IMPROVED   SYSTEM  OF  COTTON 
CULTURE. 


SECTION  I. — DR.  CLOUD'S  PLAN   OF  MANURING,  PLANTING 
AND   TENDING  A   COTTON   CROP. 

Extract  from  an  article  published  in  the  Albany  Cultivator. 

THIS  improvement  when  it  shall  have  attained  its  highest 
state  of  perfection,  contemplates  the  "  system  of  rotation"  in 
planting,  under  which  the  land  designed  for  cotton  lies  the 
previous  year  in  the  state  of  fallow,  which  is  found  by  expe- 
rience most  favorable  to  the  growth  and  fruitfulness  of  the 
plant.  I  commence  the  preparatory  operations  for  planting 
about  the  1st  of  March,  by  spreading  upon  the  land,  broadcast, 
two  to  three  hundred  bushels  of  manure  per  acre — light  stock 
yard  and  stable  compost.  I  then  run  off  the  land  in  rows  of 
three  feet  with  a  scooter-plough,  opening  a  good  furrow  some 
three  to  four  inches  deep ;  this  done,  I  take  a  large-sized 
shovel-plough  and  cross  the  scooter-furrows  by  rows,  running 
at  right  angles  of  five  feet  wide.  I  am  now  prepared  to  com- 
mence manuring  in  the  hill,  having  first  ascertained  that  I 
have  2940  hills  on  each  acre,  which  will  require,  by  giving 
each  hill  a  half  gallon  of  manure — same  kind  of  compost — 184 
bushels  nearly,  which  I  haul  on  the  land  in  a  cart,  first  gradu- 
ated to  a  certain  number  of  bushels,  and  with  spades  likewise 


54  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

prepared  for  the  purpose,  I  deposit  the  requisite  quantity  of 
manure  in  each  hill.  By  this  means,  which  in  practice  will 
be  found  simple  and  expeditious  enough,  I  give  four  to  five 
hundred  bushels  of  manure  to  each  acre — an  infallible  insur- 
ance for  5000  Ibs.  of  a  superior  staple  per  acre. 

As  the  manure  is  placed  in  the  hill  by  rows,  the  wide  way, 
a  short  distance  in  advance,  a  good  plough-hand  follows  with 
a  turn-plough,  which  should  run  into  the  soil  from  six  to  eight 
indies  deep  at  least,  and  turn  well,  with  which  four  furrows 
are  thrown  together  on  each  row ;  thus  fixing  the  half  gallon 
of  manure  in  each  hill,  entirely  within  the  region  of  constant 
moisture.  This  gives  me  a  fine,  large  bed,  and  well  broke,  to 
lie  until  at  or  about  the  first  of  April,  when  the  cotton  seed 
should  be  planted.  This  is  done  by  first  opening  the  bed  as 
shallow  as  possible,  with  some  instrument  such  as  that  de- 
scribed by  M.  W.  Philips,  Esq.,  in  the  March  number  of  the 
ninth  volume  of  the  Cultivator.  This  I  prefer  to  any  other 
instrument  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  yet  seen,  since  its  depth  of 
furrow  may  be  graduated  to  a  positive  certainty  so  as  to  avoid 
disturbing  the  manure  in  the  hill ;  it  should  not  be  opened  out 
deeper  than  one  inch.  The  bed  thus  opened,  and  the  seed 
previously  rolled  in  leeched  ashes  or  sand,  which  answer  very 
well,  though  I  prefer  a  compound  of  two  parts  of  ashes  to  one 
of  common  salt  made  moist  with  water ;  the  seeds,  well  rolled 
in  this,  are  carefully  dropped  over  the  manure.  Eight  or  ten 
seeds  in  a  place  will  answer  to  secure  a  stand.  There  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  dropping  the  seed  over  the  manure  in  the  hill, 
when  it  is  recollected  and  observed  that  upon  the  unbroken 
space  of  some  two  feet  between  each  row,  the  scooter-furrows 
will  be  found  an  unerring  guide  to  the  manure  in  the  bed  at 
distances  of  three  feet.  The  seed  thus  dropped  I  prefer  to 
have  covered  with  a  hoe,  lightly  and  carefully ;  bearing  in 
mind  this  golden  truth,  that  "  a  crop  well  planted  is  half  made." 


MANURING,  PLANTING   AND   TENDING.  55 

Immediately  after  planting,  the  middles  or  unbroken  balks 
should  be  ploughed  out. 

The  crop  of  cotton  thus  planted,  which  should  not  exceed 
three  to  four  acres  to  the  hand,  may  be  performed  in  good  time 
and  well  done.  In  a  few  days,  say  nine  to  twelve,  the  cotton 
will  be  up,  presenting  a  most  healthy  and  thrifty  appearance. 
The  next  operation  to  be  performed,  as  early  as  possibly  con- 
venient, is  to  plough  out  the  middles  well,  the  wide  way,  with 
a  good  shovel-plough,  having  first  run  around  the  young  plant 
with  a  scooter-plough.  The  hoe  hands  follow  and  thin  the 
cotton  down  to  two  stalks,  giving  it  a  small  quantity  of  soil. 
This  operation  well  done,  the  plant  is  at  once  placed  beyond 
all  danger,  since  its  tap  root  will  now  have  taken  such  hold 
upon  the  manure  below  as  to  enable  the  plant  to  outstrip 
either  grass  or  weeds,  having  yet  to  spring  up. 

Under  this  treatment,  the  time-consuming  and  worse  than 
useless  operations  of  bar-shearing,  scraping,  and  chopping  out 
are  saved,  as  much  to  the  benefit  of  the  tender  plant,  as  to  the 
interest  and  economy  of  the  planter,  in  despatching  the  hurry 
and  push  at  this  stage  of  the  crop  ;  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
this  first  working,  I  have  my  cotton  growing  off,  and  doing 
well.  I  have  now  no  further  use  for  a  plough  in  its  subse- 
quent culture,  but  use  the  sweep — a  kind  of  horse-hoe — I  call 
it  a  sweep  in  the  absence  of  a  more  appropriate  name. 

[Here  follows  a  wood-cut  representation  of  the  sweep,  a 
kind  of  plough  used  by  some  planters  at  the  South.  The  one 
here  recommended  is  made  by  welding  two  narrow  wings  over 
the  point  of  a  scooter,  or  bull-tongue,  inclining  backwards, 
with  the  ends  of  the  wings  two  feet  apart.  It  is  so  fixed  upon 
the  stock  (that  of  a  common  shovel-plough)  that  it  will  not 
enter  the  ground  deeper  than  one  inch,  if  so  deep.] 

The  great  and  singular  advantages  of  the  sweep  over  all 
instruments  of  the  plough,  harrow,  or  hoe  kind  that  I  have 


56 

ever  used,  are  these — that  it  will  kill  a  greater  quantity  of 
grass  and  weeds  in  a  given  time,  and  do  less  injury  to  tlic 
surface  roots  of  the  plant,  so  essential  to  its  pj'ogressive  pros- 
perity. The  hoe-hands  follow  this  instrument,  thin  the  cotton 
to  a  stand,  one  stalk  in  a  place,  and  draw  up  a  small  quantity 
of  soil  to  the  standing  plant.  The  entire  subsequent  culture 
is  performed  with  the  sweep  and  hoe,  which  should  simply 
scrape  and  pulverize  the  surface,  so  as  to  kill  any  grass  and 
weeds  that  may  appear,  and  allow  a  free  circulation  of  atmos- 
pheric air  to  the  fibrous  roots  of  the  fruiting  stalk,  requiring 
at  this  critical  -period  all  the  aid  and  nourishment  that  culture, 
soil,  and  atmosphere  can  afford.  By  the  1st  of  July  my 
cotton  stands  from  five  to  nine  feet  high,  and  I  have  it  topped 
by  the  10th,  at  farthest,  after  which  I  run  the  sweep  once 
through  it,  and  the  hoe,  if  necessary,  to  remove  any  grass  that 
may  have  sprung  up  immediately  above  the  stalk.  After  this, 
and  by  this  time,  frequently  in  places  the  cotton  will  be  so 
much  interlocked,  and  the  ground  so  shaded,  as  to  keep  down 
ajl  other  vegetation  ;  yet  it  may  be  found  necessary  again  to 
chop  about  in  places  with  the  hoe,  when  the  cotton  may  not 
have  locked  so  early.  This  should  be  invariably  attended  to. 
This  brings  us  again  to  the  season  of  harvesting  the  staple. 

Let  no  planter  prejudge  and  reject  this  system,  upon  the 
score  of  simplicity,  supposing  the  process  too  simple  to  accom- 
plish the  object  proposed ;  first,  act  wisely,  make  the  experi- 
ment, and  try  it.  Strictly  follow  this  plain  and  simple  process, 
and  if  the  land  does  not  reward  your  pains-taking,  with  jive 
or  six-fold  the  quantity  per  acre,  of  a  superior  stable,  than  has 
at  any  previous  season  been  taken  from  it,  in  its  natural  state, 
I  will  present  the  experimenter  with  one  bushel  of  my  im- 
proved seed,  with  which  to  perfect  the  experiment.  At  another 
time  I  propose  devoting  a  paragraph  to  the  importance  of 
selecting  and  improving  cotton  seed. 


MANURING,  PLANTING  AND  TENDING.  57 

It  will  be  observed  that  manuring  constitutes  a  large  item 
in  this  system  of  improvement,  a  source  of  revenue  too  much 
underrated  by  planters,  and  consequently  too  much  neglected, 
because  the  subject  requires  a  little  extra  attention — which 
attention  is  so  essential  to  the  prosperity  and  well-doing  of  a 
farm.  Nor,  gentlemen,  have  I  seen  anything  better  said,  or 
more  true,  than  I  find  in  the  sentiment,  under  the  head  of  a 
few  queries,  in  the  last  December  Cultivator,  where  you 
remark  to  the  planter  and  farmer,  "  In  your  manures  is  your 
gold  ?nine,  more  valuable  than  any  of  the  Carolina  ones,  and 
you  should  be  anxious  to  increase  them  accordingly."  Bat  I 
hear  some  planters  say,  "  It  is  impossible  to  produce  so  much 
manure;"  this  is,  however,  the  result  of  inexperience,  and 
the  want  of  determination.  I  am  entirely  convinced,  from  my 
experience  in  making  manure,  that  it  is  not  only  practicable, 
but  a  perfectly  easy  task  to  prepare,  upon  every  plantation  in 
the  cotton  region,  great  or  small,  1500  bushels  of  an  excellent 
article  of  compost,  per  annum,  to  the  hand,  at  a  cost  of  less 
than  two  cents  per  bushel,  by  the  assistance  of  the  stock  of 
horses,  cows  and  hogs,  upon  properly  arranged  lots.  This  is 
done  by  having  the  lots  well  littered,  by  throwing  in  pine 
straw,  in  large  quantities  and  frequently,  or  oak  leaves,  where 
the  pine  straw  is  not  to  be  had,  with  cotton  and  corn  stalks, 
&c.,  and  occasionally  haul  and  scatter  upon  the  litter  a  few 
loads  of  muck  or  marl,  one  or  both  of  which  may  be  found  on 
or  near  every  farm  in  the  country ;  upon  these  lots,  pen  and 
feed  your  stock  every  night.  The  manure  thus  prepared, 
should  be  collected  in  pens  or  pits,  three  or  four  times  during 
the  year,  after  heavy  falls  of  rain,  and  the  lots  replenished 
with  pine  straw,  &c. ;  by  this  means  a  very  large  amount  of 
manure  is  collected  during  the  season,  and  that,  too,  at  an  in- 
appreciable cost.  Again,  we  have  another  difficulty.  There 
are  but  few  persons  who  believe  that  pine  straw  can  be  con- 
3* 


58  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

verted  into  manure ;  for  the  benefit  and  information  of  such, 
who  may  read  this,  permit  me  to  quote  a  single  sentence  from 
Liebig's  celebrated  work  upon  Agricultural  Chemistry  :  "  The 
bark  and  foliage  of  oaks  contain  from  six  to  nine  per  cent,  of 
potash.  The  needles  of  firs  and  pines,  eight  per  cent."  But 
it  is  not  on  account  of  the  potash  exclusively,  that  I  prefer 
pine  straw,  to  all  other  vegetable  matter,  in  the  preparation  of 
manure,  since  it  possesses  another  invaluable  quality,  above 
all  others,  in  absorbing  the  juices  of  the  manure,  which  are 
Jthus  saved  from  evaporation,  and  readily  applied  to  the  land. 
I  doubt  not  but  a  single  year's  experience  will  convince  every 
intelligent  planter  of  the  innumerable  advantages  of  this  im- 
provement, and  its  perfect  adaption  to  the  culture  of  cotton 
and  other  crops. 

I  will  now  close  this  number  by  a  very  few  remarks  upon 
the  character  and  quality  of  the  soil  upon  which  my  experi- 
ments have  been  conducted.  It  is  a  high  ridge-land,  readily 
recognized,  and  its  quality  distinctly  understood,  in  our  south- 
ern country,  under  the  name  of  forked-teaf,  black-jack,  pine- 
barren,  a  deep,  porous,  sandy,  superstratum,  lying  under  a 
tolerable  good  clay,  at  a  distance  of  two  to  three  feet  below 
the  surface.  A  true  picture  of  nature,  and  naturally  poor  en- 
ough. This  land,  under  the  treatment  above  detailed,  grew 
my  cotton,  from  which  I  have  gathered  a  greater  nnmber  of 
pounds  per  acre,  (indeed,  almost  double,)  that  I  have  ever 
seen  recorded,  is  in  its  natural  state,  inferior  to  the  average 
quality  of  cotton  land,  by  at  least  one-half.  I  might  refer  you, 
if  necessary,  to  more  than  one  hundred  gentlemen,  planters 
from  Georgia  and  Alabama,  who  have  examined  my  experi- 
ments carefully,  and  several  of  them  at  various  stages  of  its 
growth,  and  with  one  general  consent,  pronounced  it  a  fair 
test,  and  a  great  improvement.  I  have,  from  several  stalks 
that  grew  on  the  three  acres,  in  the  proper  places,  taken  three 


PRINCIPLES   AND   PHILOSOPHY   OF    CULTURE.  50 

and  a-lialf  to  four  pounds  of  cotton,  carefully  weighed.  In  the 
perfection  of  this  improvement,  yet  in  a  state  of  great  crude- 
ness,  when  every  stalk  upon  the  acre  (2940)  shall  mature 
equally  ivcll,  what  may  I  reasonably  calculate  to  gather  ? 

" Nil  desperandum, 

Possunt  quia,  posse  videntur." 

N.  B.   CLOUD.  M.D. 
Planters'  Retreat,  Ala.,  Dec.  26,  1842. 


SECTION   II. — PRINCIPLES   AND   PHILOSOPHY   OF   THE   IM- 
PROVED   CULTURE   OF   COTTON. 

From  the  Albany  Cultivator. 

MESSRS.  GAYLORD  AND  TUCKER: — Entertaining  the  profoundest 
respect  and  the  kindest  feelings  towards  the  opinions  and 
practices  of  those  planters  who  are  greatly  my  seniors  in 
age  and  in  agricultural  experience,  I  propose,  now,  to  en- 
gage in  discussing  "  the  principles  and  philosophy  of  this 
improvement  in  the  culture  of  cotton."  I  will  first  remark 
directly,  gentlemen,  what  I  have  intimated  throughout  this 
correspondence — that  in  conducting  these  experiments,  and 
in  advocating  the  claims  of  this  improvement,  (the  leading 
and  meritorious  features  of  which  belong  to  your  invaluable 
Cultivator,}  I  have  had  no  ambition  to  gratify  which  is  not 
common  to  the  lover  of  science  and  agricultural  improvement ; 
nor  have  I  any  interests  to  subserve  thereby,  which  may  not 
be  the  privilege  of  every  planter  in  the  country,  however 
humble  his  pretensions  or  ability.  Yet,  admonished  as  I  have 
been,  by  the  precipitate  and  unmeasured  tirade  of  vituperation 
and  spleen  which  my  first  paper  excited  among  the  corps  edi- 


60  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

torial  of  the  country,  and  others  of  the  "  skinning  gentry,"  i 
have  not  ventured  upon  this  most  delicate  position,  though  long 
promised,  without  again  revising  carefully  and  practically,  the 
principles  and  ability  of  this  system. 

In  my  first  paper,  it  will  be  recollected,  I  stated  the  grand 
object  which  this  system  of  improved  culture  proposes  to  ac- 
complish for  the  planting  interest  of  the  country;  and  I  also 
gave  there  a  fair  and  impartial,  and  a  most  satisfactory  expose 
of  that  system,  (if  such  it  may  be  styled,)  by  which  the  cotton 
plant  is  at  present  grown.  In  my  second  number,  I  gave  in 
detail,  in  an  equally  plain  and  simple  manner,  the  modus  ope- 
randi  by  which  my  experiments  were  conducted.  This  was 
no  second-hand  report,  or  say-so  of  another  person  ;  but  in  part 
the  work  of  my  own  hands,  and  the  entire  management  under 
my  immediate  supervision.  In  this  paper,  I  propose  giving 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  for  all  this — at  least,  in  my  humble 
opinion ;  and  to  point  out  the  inconsistent,  the  reckless  and 
grassy  policy  of  the  present  practices  of  the  country,  as  com- 
pared with  the  systematic,  economical  and  %)hilosophic  policy  of 
this  improvement. 

It  is  my  purpose,  gentlemen,  first  to  give  you  a  correct 
sketch  of  the  botanic  characteristics  of  the  cotton  plant,  as  we 
meet  with  it  under  the  circumstance  of  its  most  favorable  cul- 
ture. I  do  not  offer  this  in  the  spirit  of  ostentation,  to  appear 
learned  from  the  technicals  used,  (the  necessary  peculiarity  of 
every  science.)  My  object  is  simply  to  call  attention  to  a 
subject — too  much  neglected  by  planters — about  which  the 
books  are  carelessly  in  error;  and  a  proper  knowledge  of 
which,  in  my  opinion,  tends  greatly  to  indicate  the  best  or 
right  mode  of  culture. 

The  botanic  name,  then,  of  the  plant  we  cultivate,  is  Gos- 
sypium  hcrbaceum  ;  we  find  it  in  the  fifteenth  class  of  the 
Linnean  system,  (Monadelpliia,*)  and  in  the  thirteenth  order, 


PRINCIPLES   AND   PHILOSOPHY   OF   CULTURE.  61 

(Polyandria.)  The  first  leaves  that  make  their  appearance 
after  the  cotyledons,  three  to  six  are  ovate,  and  indicate  cer- 
tainly the  sucker  or  branch  limbs,  that  will  first  put  out  from 
the  stalk.  After  these,  we  have  the  cotton  leaf  proper,  three 
to  five  lobed,  and  mercronate,  with  one  gland  upon  the  mid-rib 
beneath  ;  these  leaves  invariably  indicate  the  arm  limb,  grow- 
ing out  horizontally,  and  articulated,  forming  at  each  joint  one 
or  more  balls  ;  coming  out  with  the  arm  limb,  we  have  almost 
invariably  a  branch  limb,  with  several  balls — or  a  stem,  with 
one  to  three  balls.  The  stalk  is  Z?,gw?-herbaceous  and  pu- 
bescent— and  in  our  climate  an  annual,  attaining  the  height  of 
six  to  ten  feet.  The  period  of  flowering  is  from  10th  June  to 
frost ;  the  calix  double,  the  outer  one  three-cleft ;  capsule 
three  to  five  celled,  with  seven  to  nine  seeds  in  a  cell,  involved 
in  the  staple.  Early  in  the  morning  the  milk-white*  bloom 
may  be  seen,  in  the  form  of  a  conic  scroll,  emerging  from  the 
fringe-work  of  its  outer  calix ;  and  with  the  rising  sun  it  un- 
folds the  segments  of  its  petal,  and  by  one  hour  by  sun  we 
behold  the  full  blown  bell-formed  flower.  Thus,  blooming 
white,  it  remains  till  twelve  o'clock ;  when,  within  fifteen 
minutes  thereafter,  we  may  observe  by  the  naked  eye,  a  faint 
ray  of  pink  skirting  the  thin  margins  of  the  segments,  which 
pink  color  may  be  seen,  by  one  to  two  o'clock,  to  have  diffused 
itself  throughout  the  bloom.  It  thus  continues  changing  from 
white  to  red,  till  sun  up  the  next  morning,  when  it  will  be 
found  a  beautiful  brilliant  pink :  now  with  the  rising  sun  it 
gradually  wilts,  and  by  twelve  o'clock  it  drops  off,  leaving  a 
distinctly  formed  ball,  securely  sheltered  by  its  calix. 

This  description,  which  is  strictly  correct,  differs  in  several 
of  its  particulars  from  Eaton's,  and  from  the  miserably  errone- 
ous engraving  and  description  of  the  same,  to  be  found  at  page 

*  The  Sea-Island  Cotton  bloom  is  yellow. 


62 

307  of  "Sears'  Wonders  of  the  World;  and  yet,  strange  to 
say,  tins  same  engraving,  with  probably  but  a  single  correct 
feature,  is  copied  into  the  American  Agriculturist,  in  illustra- 
tion of  an  article  by  Dr.  Philips.  I  might  point  out  a  half 
do^en  errors  in  that  engraving ;  it  will  answer  my  present 
purpose,  however,  that  I  detain  you  with  but  two  or  three  such 
notices.  You  will  first  observe  the  bloom,  and  the  description 
given,  and  you  will  agree  with  me  at  once,  that  Mr.  Sears  has 
been  bugged  by  an  okra  flower;  the  cotton  bloom,  in  its  healthy 
state,  is  never  so  much  flared,  nor  has  it  any  red  spots  in  the 
.  bottom.  Observe  again,  to  the  left,  that  young  ball  with  its 
drooping  calix  ;  that  is  altogether  unnatural,  and  is  never  seen 
except  where  the  worm  is  or  has  been.  You  will  observe  the 
same  error  in  the  opening  ball ;  every  little  boy,  who  has 
picked  but  fifty  pounds  of  cotton,  will  tell  you  if  that  were  the 
fact,  there  would  be  no  trashy  cotton.  I  am  sure  Dr.  Philips 
has  detected  these  blunders,  with  others  equally  evident. 
This,  I  suppose,  will  be  considered  a  small  matter,  about 
which  nobody  is  at  fault ;  because  even  intelligent  planters 
have  never  thought  it  worth  while  to  give  a  correct  descrip- 
tion of  the  cotton  plant.  This  same  carelessness  is  observed, 
when  we  cast  our  eyes  upon  the  large  map  of  Alabama ;  we 
there  see  a  most  imposing  engraving  of  a  large  fancy  plant, 
with  its  one  hundred  and  one  errors,  if  called  a  cotton  plant. 
Observe  again,  the  beautiful  and  chaste  vignette  of  our  own 
excellent  and  cherished  Southern  Cultivator :  we  see  there  an 
engraving  designed  for  the  cotton  plant,  yet  I  am  sure  if  the 
pendent  open  balls  were  painted  red,  you  would  sooner  take  it 
for  a  pomegranate  bush  ! 

To  the  planter  who  is  satisfied  merely  to  plod  along,  the 
inanimate  imitator  of  some  skinning  neighbor,  this  sketch  will 
appear  a  tedious  and  uninteresting  detail.  I  am  convinced, 
however,  of  its  importance — and  there  is  a  spirit  of  improve- 


PRINCIPLES  AND   PHILOSOPHY  OP   CULTURE.  63 

ment  abroad  in  the  land,  which  requires  just  such  detail  of 
fact ;  because  it  is  not  possible,  at  least  it  is  extremely  im- 
probable, that  we  succeed  in  improving  and  perfecting  the 
culture  of  any  article  of  vegetation,  until  we  make  ourselves 
well  acquainted  with  its  natural  characteristics.  Hence  I  re- 
mark, that  when  we  look  upon  the  stately  pyramidal  appear- 
ance of  an  improved  cotton  stalk,  grown  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, we  observe  at  once — indeed,  we  are  forcibly  struck 
with  the  distance  proper  in  its  arrangement  upon  the  soil,  which 
is  so  clearly  indicated.  Again,  we  observe  an  uncommonly 
large  amount  of  foliage  for  an  annual,  besides  some  three  to 
four  pounds  of  seed-cotton  upon  the  stalks — literally  crowded 
from  its  base,  upon  an  area  of  some  fifteen  to  twenty  square 
feet,  to  its  apex,  at  the  height  of  six  feet.  Now,  in  view  of 
these  clearly  established  facts,  the  invariable  effect  of  certain 
well  defined  causes,  I  shall  not  suppose  any  planter  so  dull  as 
not  to  know  what  course  to  pursue,  if  he  find  that  it  requires 
a  given  amount  of  grain  to  grow  a  pig  to  a  given  size  in  one 
year,  that  to  produce  another  such  pig  the  next  season,  the 
necessary  amount  of  food  or  grain  must  be  first  supplied. 
Without  the  food,  the  pig  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  year 
a  landpike  ;  and  so  the  cotton,  without  the  geine  and  manure, 
will  be  found,  as  is  too  common,  the  little  Frederick  !  Were 
I  to  assume  an  affirmative  position  in  this  analogy,  every 
planter  would  reply  instanter,  and  most  indignantly  too — Sir, 
you  are  behind  the  times  ;  our  own  sage  Franklin,  more  than 
a  half  century  ago,  in  his  friendly  advice  to  Poor  Richard,  has 
assured  us,  "  that  by  constantly  taking  out  of  the  meal  tub 
and  never  putting  in,  we  shall  soon  find  the  bottom."  Philo- 
sophically true  this — good  homespun,  and  sound  doctrine;  yet 
plain  and  simple  as  be  this  doctrine,  the  cotton  planter  knows 
it  only  in  song — his  acquaintance  with  this  golden  truth  is 
theoretic  entirely.  His  exhausted  fields  and  dwarfish,  puny 


64  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

cotton,  tell  tales  more  positively  contradictory  and  gloomy, 
than  I  have  room  or  inclination  here  to  enumerate. 

The  governing  principle,  then,  in  this  improvement,  is  to 
give  constant  and  diligent  attention  to  keep  the  meal  tub  well 
supplied.  In  the  first  place,  produce  and  haul  out  upon  your 
land  a  sufficiency  of  good  manure,  fully  to  supply  the  require- 
ments of  the  plant  all  the  season.  In  another  place,  I  have 
shown  that  it  is  a  perfectly  easy  matter  to  produce  this  manure, 
to  which  I  will  further  add  here,  that  the  decaying  materials 
abound  spontaneously,  scattered  up  and  down,  filling  each 
nook  and  corner  on  every  plantation,  during  all  the  season,  a 
wasting  nuisance  that  might  be  easily  collected,  and  converted 
into  a  profitable  revenue,  if  but  one-third  the  time  and  atten- 
tion, otherwise  sedulously  consumed  in  the  butchery  of  the 
soil,  in  a  petite  war  against  grass  and  weeds,  the  inevitable 
produce  of  such  latitudinarian  systems  of  culture,  was  devoted 
to  that  most  valuable  employment.  In  this  most  important 
department  of  agriculture,  science  is  actively  engaged  in  ren- 
dering the  planter  the  most  essential  service. 

Having  derived  these  important  indications  from  the  figure 
and  natural  characteristics  of  a  perfectly  matured  cotton  plant, 
the  judgment  of  the  planter  is  brought  into  active  requisition 
in  properly  adjusting  its  relative  position  in  width  of  row  and 
its  situation  on  the  drill,  in  order  that  we  secure  the  greatest 
possible  advantage  in  its  subsequent  culture.  My  own  ex- 
perience inclines  me  to  the  opinion,  that  when  land  is  im- 
proved only  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  bushels  of  manure  per  acre,  less  than  fifteen  square 
superficial  feet  to  each  stalk  will  be  too  close.  Nor  will  im- 
provement carried  to  five  times  that  extent,  require  greater 
distance  than  twenty  square  feet  to  each  stalk.  Since,  then, 
it  is  found  necessary  that  each  stalk  occupy  this  distance,  it 
would  appear  that  the  simplest  course  would  be  to  lay  off  the 


PRINCIPLES  AND   PHILOSOPHY   OF   CULTURE.  65 

rows  equi-distant  each  way.  The  question  is  frequently 
asked,  "  Why  not  lay  off  the  land  four  by  four  feet,  or  five  by 
four  feet  ?"  There  is  a  very  serious  objection  to  this  simple 
plan,  which  every  planter  must  perceive  on  a  moment's  re- 
flection. In  either  case,  the  cotton  will  be  found  so  entirely 
interlocked  by  the  20th  of  June  to  the  1st  of  July,  as  to  for- 
bid further  work ;  yet  we  find,  under  the  most  favorable  cir- 
cumstances of  seasons  and  culture,  that  it  will  take  the  stalk 
until  the  10th  of  July  to  attain  the  height  of  six  feet,  short  of 
which  we  should  not  top  it,  nor  earlier  in  the  season ;  and  it 
is  very  desirable,  and  highly  necessary  even,  that  the  cotton 
be  swept  once  after  topping  it,  which  we  find  impracticable 
unless  the  rows  be  laid  off  wide  one  way,  with  a  view  to  that 
desirable  operation.  Upon  land,  then,  that  is  but  moderately 
improved,  1  prefer  the  rows  north  and  south  five  feet,  by  three 
feet  east  and  west ;  and  upon  land  in  a  higher  state  of  improve- 
ment, six  feet  by  forty  inches  will  be  found  the  best  distance. 
Though  we  shall  find  the  stalk  a  little  crowded  the  narrow 
way  by  this  course,  yet  we  secure  the  more  important  advan- 
tage, in  being  able  to  scrape  and  pulverize  the  surface  later 
in  the  season.  I  suppose  there  to  be  other  advantages  like- 
wise, in  this  plan  of  laying  the  rows  at  right  angles,  north 
and  south,  and  east  and  west,  and  bedding  the  land  north  and 
south ;  which,  however,  must  form  the  subject  of  another 
article. 

The  next  object  to  which  I  shall  direct  your  attention,  is 
the  mode  of  culture  which  I  conceive  to  be  necessary  in  the 
after  management  of  the  cotton  plant ;  the  correctness,  and 
even  superiority  of  which,  I  hope  to  establish  as  clearly  here, 
as  in  practice  it  has  so  triumphantly  succeeded.  The  con- 
stant and  invariable  success  which  attends  this  improvement 
in  my  hands,  is  the  result  of  a  strict  and  scrupulous  adherence 
to  system  in  its  management.  Every  science  and  every  pro- 


6G  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

fession  among  men,  which  is  either  useful  or  valuable,  ac- 
quires both  respect  and  importance  on  account  of  system. 
System  is  essential  to  certain  success  in  every  undertaking ; 
and  especially  is  it  necessary  in  this  the  first  of  all  profes- 
sions. 

The  principal  object  I  have  had  in  view,  in  all  this  manuring, 
thorough  ploughing,  laying  off  and  bedding  the  land  previous 
to  planting  the  seed,  has  not  been  to  plant  alone ;  men  plant 
abstractly,  as  handsomely  and  with  the  same  facility,  with 
less  labor;  it  has  been  done  to  encourage  and  facilitate* the 
early  and  extensive  growth  of  the  fibrous  and  soil  roots,  by 
which  means  the  plant  readily  and  equally  early,  augments 
the  extent  of  surface  (in  number  and  length  of  its  limbs,)  for 
fruiting,  and  the  consequent  number  of  its  organs  of  atmos- 
pheric nutrition.  The  immense  advantages  which  the  plant 
derives  from  an  early  accomplishment  of  an  object  so  desir- 
able, are  at  once  obvious  when  we  recollect  "  that  the  soil  and 
atmosphere  offer  the  same  kind  of  nourishment  to  the  roots 
and  leaves  of  the  plant."  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt, 
though  I  possess  not  the  means  of  positive  measurement,  but 
that  the  plant  multiplies  its  organs  of  atmospheric  nutrition 
in  precisely  the  same  ratio  that  an  improved  and  judicious 
system  of  culture  facilitates  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  its 
roots.  There  is  also  another  interesting  consideration  con- 
nected with  this  subject,  which  I  esteem  worthy  of  notice  in 
this  place  ;  which  is,  that  though  the  soil  and  atmosphere 
offer  the  same  kind  of  nourishment  to  the  roots  and  leaves  of 
the  plant,  yet  the  character  of  its  assimilation  and  consequent 
appropriation  widely  differ.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  the 
roots  assimilate  food  for  the  production  of  the  stems  arid  leaves 
mainly,  and  that  the  leaves  assimilate  the  same  for  the  pro- 
duction and  maturity  of  the  blooms  and  fruit.  I  do  not  claim 
originality  for  this  opinion  ;  I  think  I  have  seen  it  hinted  at 


PRINCIPLES   AND   PHILOSOPHY   OF   CULTURE.  67 

in  some  work  on  vegetable  physiology,  though  I  cannot  now 
say  where.*  I  have  been  governed  by  this  impression,  at 
least  in  conducting  my  experiments,  which  have  not  as  yet 
been  of  a  sufficiently  varied  character  to  enable  me  to  deter- 
mine and  assert  the  fact  positively.  My  attention  was  first 
called  to  this  interesting  subject  while  investigating  the  cause 
and  effect  of  rust  upon  the  cotton  plant,  which  every  planter 
has  seen,  some  of  the  features  of  which  would  seem  to 
strengthen  this  position.  How  desirable  is  it,  then,  if  all  this 
be  fact,  that  we  adopt  such  system  in  our  after  management 
as  will  not  only  preserve  this  natural  chain  of  action  unim- 
paired, but  encourage  its  progressive  prosperity?  It  is  not 
enough,  however,  that  we  thus  dismiss  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject ;  its  importance  requires  of  us  a  much  more  simple  and 
extended  view. 

We  will  commence,  then,  at  that  age  of  the  plant  at  which 
it  is  first  worked,  by  examining  the  roots  of  two  stalks  ;  we 
pull  up  one  in  the  ordinary  way  of  thinning  cotton,  that  is, 
we  take  hold  of  the  stem  and  draw  it  up,  and  we  have  a  single 
long  root  (in  most  instances),  tapering  to  a  point ;  we  have 
simply  the  tap  root.  We  will  take  up  the  other  with  a  spade 
or  hoe,  the  stalk  standing  in  the  centre  of  some  six  to  eight 
inches  square  of  soil,  we  then  gently  sift  or  shake  the  soil 
from  the  roots,  and  we  have  a  fair  specimen  of  the  cotton 
root ;  we  have  what  is  properly  meant  by  tap  root,  a  plant 
with  a  main  root  long  and  tap-like,  or  tapering,  dipping  deep 

**  Since  writing  the  above  I  see  in  a  report  of  the  sitting  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  for  August  the  14th,  a  paper  was  received  from  M.  Dutrochet, 
on  the  production  and  ripening  of  fruits.  This  gentleman  states  "  that  the 
removal  of  the  leaves  of  fruit  trees,  in  order  to  expose  the  fruit  to  the  di- 
rect influence  of  the  air  and  light,  is  exceedingly  destructive."  I  suppose 
he  means  destructive  to  the  fruit.  If  so,  his  experiments  would  seem  to 
corroborate  this  opinion. 


68  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

into  the  soil ;  besides  this  tap  root,  however,  we  find  on  almost 
innumerable  quantity  of  fibrous  or  surface  roots,  diverging  in 
every  direction,  as  long,  in  many  instances,  as  the  tap  root 
itself,  and  coming  out,  generally,  from  one-half  to  one  inch  be- 
low the  surface.  This  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice,  with  which 
every  planter  may,  if  not  already  aware  of  it,  acquaint  him- 
self early  the  next  season.  This  may  appear  to  some  persons 
a  very  simple  and  a  very  trivial  investigation,  yet  I  find  in  it 
a  most  satisfactory  solution  of  the  immense  injury  which  the 
cotton  plant  sustains,  from  the  multifarious  policy  of  the  coun- 
try. I  remark,  then,  as  the  plant  comes  forward,  so  the  tap 
root  (where  it  exists,  though  an  unnecessary  appendage  in 
our  climate),  sinks  deep  into  the  soil,  while  the  fibrous  or  sur- 
face roots  multiply  and  shoot  in  every  direction  ;  hence,  I  say, 
"  as  early  as  possibly  convenient,"  after  the  plant  is  up, 
"  plough  out  the  middles  well,  the  wide  way,  having  first  run 
around  the  plant  with  a  scooter-plough."  The  main  object  in 
this  operation,  is  once  more,  before  the  surface  roots  have  come 
out  so  far  as  to  sustain  injury,  to  thoroughly  loosen  the  soil, 
and  again  commingle  it  with  the  manure.  The  plant  being 
now  thinned  down  to  two  or  three  stalks  in  a  place,  and  a 
small  quantity  of  soil,  molded  about  the  hill,  is  left  in  this 
most  favorable  and  growing  situation.  In  the  course  of  some 
fifteen  to  twenty  days,  when  we  return  to  work  it  again,  it 
will  be  found  to  have  come  forward  rapidly,  standing  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  inches  in  height,  and  finely  limbed.  If  we 
now  take  the  trouble  to  examine  a  hill  or  stalk,  we  shall  find 
an  amount  of  earth  included  within  the  circuit  of  these  fibrous 
and  soil  roots,  as  they  penetrate  all  parts  of  the  loamy  mold, 
in  pursuit  of  the  luscious  geine  (like  a  flock  of  sheep  fresh 
upon  a  rich  pasture),  that  will  weigh  more  than  a  hand  can 
tote.  With  these  facts  before  us,  let  us  turn  our  attention  for 
a  moment  to  the  practices  of  the  country,  at  this  stage  of 


PRINCIPLES   AND    PHILOSOPHY   OF    CULTURE.  CO 

operations.  One  planter  will  now  commence  work,  and  the 
plant,  standing  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  high,  "  with  a  bull- 
tongue  or  scooter-plough,"  and  he  will  dagger  into  the  soil,  as 
close  to  the  plant  as  he  can  possibly  get,  some  three  to  four 
inches  deep — he  says,  "  to  loosen  up  the  earth,  that  the  tap 
root  may  go  down."  Another  planter  will  again,  the  second 
and  third  time,  run  the  bar  of  a  turn-plough  to  the  cotton — he 
says,  "  to  kill  the  grass ;"  thus  it  stands  bedded  in  the  mid- 
dles, and  "  steaming"  a  few  days,  when  these  hot-beds  are 
ploughed  out ;  though  I  have  even  seen  it  barred  the  third 
time,  before  ploughing  out  the  middles  1  All  this  may  answer 
the  purpose  fully,  and  even  look  very  well  to  the  planter  that 
operates  to  kill  grass ;  but  we  have  a  latent  cause  operating 
destructively  in  this  practice,  and  though  the  certain  effect  is 
not  always  willingly  recognized,  in  the  turning  yellow  and 
falling  leaves  of  the  plant,  it  is  not,  however,  the  less  obvious. 
The  planters  operating  thus  will  tell  you,  in  the  first  instance, 
"  this  cotton  has  received  a  fine  working ;  there's  not  a  sprig 
of  grass  or  weeds  to  be  seen ;  but  it  does  not  grow  off  as  it 
should ;  this  little  dry  spell  has  checked  its  growth."  But 
partial  showers  may  have  fallen  upon  the  other  man's  cotton ; 
he  says,  "  See  my  cotton ;  how  clean  and  nice  it  is  worked, 
though  it  is  too  wet,  and  does  not  grow ;  rainy  weather  does 
not  suit  cotton."  This  is  the  logic  (I  will  not  say  universal) 
of  the  devotees  of  this  grass-killing  policy,  in  accounting  for 
its  disastrous  consequences,  and  will,  I  am  sure,  be  very  read- 
ily recognized  as  such  by  every  impartial  man.  Now,  the 
truth  is,  I  will  illustrate  the  whole  difficulty  here,  by  a  very 
simple,  though  rather  uncouth  simile ;  it  is,  however,  not  the 
less  pertinent  to  my  present  purpose,  because  men  are  not  to 
be  benefited,  nor  will  they  improve  in  the  practice  of  any 
science  or  profession,  unless  they  exercise  the  faculties  of 
thinking  and  reasoning,  though  such  exercise  be  bought  at  the 


70  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

expense  of  decent  ridicule.  We  will  suppose  the  planter 
operation  in  this  was,  having  received  a  pair  of  fine  Berkshire 
pigs,  says  to  his  trusty  man,  Sambo,  "  take  this  bushel  of  corn 
to  the  barn-yard,  and  feed  those  pigs  well ;  I  want  them  to 
grow  large  and  fat."  Well,  Sambo,  always  anxious  to  carry 
out  the  views  of  his  master,  and  having  carefully  watched  his 
operations  in  the  treatment  of  his  cotton,  to  make  it  grow  large, 
takes  up  the  basket,  and  then,  providing  himself  with  a  ham- 
mer or  hatchet,  he  proceeds  to  the  yard  ;  he  first  takes  hold 
upon  the  gentle,  unsuspecting  grunters,  one  by  one,  and,  with 
his  instrument,  knocks  or  breaks  out  their  teeth,  and  then, 
throwing  down  the  corn,  he  returns  to  the  house  with  spirits 
buoyant,  in  the  consciousness  of  having  so  consistently  dis- 
charged his  duty  !  "Well,  Sambo,  you  have  given  those  pigs 
plenty  of  corn,  ha  ?"  "  Yes,  sir,  they  are  well  fed."  In  a 
few  days  he  takes  a  friend  to  look  at  the  fine  Berkshires. 
Yes,  Sambo  has  given  them  corn  plentifully ;  there  it  lies  by 
them  !  But  this  is  too  plain  a  case  ;  the  pigs  have  the  teeth- 
ache,  and  they  are  broken  off,  too  !  neither  the  wet  nor  the  dry 
weather  has  caused  the  mischief  here !  And*  yet  the  pigs, 
like  the  cotton,  have  only  their  teeth  broken  off ! !  Poor 
Sambo  !  we  leave  him  to  explain  to  the  world  the  rationale  of 
this  root  and  teeth-breaking  policy. 

N.  B.  CLOUD,  M.D. 
Macon  Co.,  Ala.,  Nov.  1,  1843. 


SECTION   III. — EXPERIMENTS   IN   MANURING   COTTON. 

Gov.  BROOME  : — Immediately  on  ascertaining  the  result  of 
my  first  extensive  experiment  in  manuring  and  spacing  cotton, 
I  communicated  the  facts  to  the  Albany  Cultivator,  an  agri- 
cultural paper  that  had,  at  that  time,  quite  a  large  circula- 


EXPERIMENTS   IN   MANURING    COTTON.  71 

tion  in  the  cotton-growing  States.  My  object,  as  expressed  at 
the  time,  was  to  have  these  experiments  tested  in  various  sec- 
tions of  the  cotton-growing  region.  I  gave  the  details  care- 
fully and  minutely.  I  saw  all  the  difficulties,  and  feared  the 
result  in  the  hands  of  gentlemen  less  interested  than  myself. 
The  great  principle  of  the  improvement  was  a  fixed  fact.  The 
extraordinary  yield  of  cotton,  the  small  area  of  land,  naturally 
very  poor,  occupied  in  its  production,  and  the  home  means 
employed,  were  facts  too  striking,  and  of  too  much  importance, 
to  be  overlooked  or  slightly  regarded  by  me. 

As  I  have  stated  previously,  it  mattered  not  in  a  "  first, 
crude  experiment,"  what  amount  of  personal  trouble  it  gave 
me  to  so  adjust  and  arrange  these  home  means  to  produce  such 
extraordinary  results.  The  greatest  difficulty  connected  with 
this  experiment,  was  the  trouble  in  getting  a  stand, — next  to 
an  impossibility.  I  had  never  seen  manure  applied  to  crops 
in  any  other  way  than  in  the  hill,  which  succeeds  finely  with 
corn,  but  with  cotton  it  is  entirely  different.  Where  the  ma- 
nure applied  in  the  hills  for  cotton  is  worth  the  labor  of  appli- 
cation, and  enough  is  used  to  produce  a  decided  benefit,  one 
half  the  hills  at  least,  will  either  fail  to  come  up  or  die  imme'- 
diately  after  coming  up.  This  is  an  inherent  difficulty  in  the 
plant  itself,  from  its  mode  of  germination,  which  I  ascertained 
during  the  three  succeeding  years  that  I  devoted  to  the  sub- 
ject forthe  express  purpose  of  overcoming  this  main  difficulty. 
The  cotton  seed,  in  the  process  of  germination,  attracts  from 
the  surrounding  soil,  and  from  the  atmosphere,  an  unusual 
amount  of  water,  as  compared  with  other  seed  undergoing 
this  process.  Any  artificial  condition  of  the  soil,  which  con- 
centrates immediately  about  the  cotton  seed  at  this  time  an 
undue  quantity  of  alkaline,  gaseous  matter,  causes  this  fluid, 
contained  in  the  tender,  reticulated,  or  mesh-like  incipient 
vegetable  fibre,  to  undergo  a  species  of  fermentation,  which 


72  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

of  course  destroys  the  vitality  of  the  young  plant.  The  plant 
is  subject  to  this  influence  where  a  remunerative  quantity  of 
good  manure,  either  compost,  guano,  or  chemicals  of  any  kind, 
has  heen  used  in  the  hill,  even  after  having  put  out  the  third 
and  fourth  leaves. 

Whether  philosophically  explained  or  not,  the  discovery  of 
the  fact  cost  me  three  years  of  the  closest  investigation.  The 
tap  root  of  the  cotton  plant  does  not  make  its  way  into  the 
soil  a  perfectly  organized  root ;  the  sprout  which  is  the  root, 
leaving  the  seed  at  the  small  end,  dips  directly  downward, 
where  it  commences  pouring  out  a  semi-fluid  substance,  which 
is  attracted  downward  partly  by  gravitation,  and  partly,  per- 
haps, by  electricity.  This  substance,  like  a  small  streak  of 
smoke,  is  remarkably  fragile,  constantly  and  rapidly  descend- 
ing. It  is  the  mould  in  which  the  tap  root  is  formed.  Any 
person  who  will  take  the  trouble,  can  ascertain  this  fact  for 
himself.  Thus  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  it  is,  that  an  un- 
natural, alkalization  of  the  soil  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
such  condition  of  vegetable  existence,  should  affect  its  vitality. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  year,  I  determined  upon  a  new 
mode  of  application  entirely,  which  consisted  in  spreading 
all  the  manure  used  broadcast.  This  was  done  by  hauling 
the  manure  out  on  the  land  and  depositing  in  heap  rows,  say 
thirty  feet  apart,  and  the  heaps  thirty  feet  apart  in  the  rows, 
with  ten  bushels  of  manure  in  each  heap.  The  cotton-rows 
being  first  laid,  the  manure  was  spread  broadcast,  and  the 
land  bedded  out.  On  or  about  the  10th  of  April,  the  cotton  seeds 
were  planted  after  a  spacer,  by  which  the  hills  are  regulated 
precisely  as  desired.  The  result  was  a  perfect  stand,  with 
the  cotton  healthy,  and  all  of  the  same  age.  There  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  understanding  the  difference  here  in  favor  of  broad- 
casting the  manure,  and  in  bedding  out  the  rows.  It  is  not 
deposited,  a  half-gallon  in  a  place,  but  is  incorporated  evenly 


EXPERIMENTS   IN   MANURING    COTTON.  73 

and  uniformly  throughout  all  the  soil.  The  consequence  is, 
that  however  rich  the  manure  may  be  in  alkaline  matter,  its 
thorough  incorporation  with  the  soil,  so  quickly  and  effectively 
dilutes  it,  as  to  render  it  entirely  inoxuous  to  young  cotton. 
There  was  no  part  of  the  experiment  that  gave  me  so  much 
satisfaction  as  this.  Every  planter  knows  the  value  of  a  first, 
uniform  and  perfect  stand.  I  use  the  term  perfect,  because 
by  the  use  of  the  spacer,  I  approximate  nearer  a  perfect  stand 
than  it  is  possible  to  accomplish  by  any  other  process. 

From  the  interest  and  close  attention  bestowed  upon  this 
subject  in  all  its  various  relations,  the  season  had  not  expired 
before  I  clearly  saw — as  I  then  thought,  and  as  subsequent 
experiment  has  and  still  is  demonstrating, — a  grand  system  of 
plantation  economy,  destined  to  revolutionize  entirely  the  petty 
land-wasting  customs  of  the  country.  You  nor  I,  my  very 
dear  sir,  may  never  live  to  see  the  day  when  that  very  last 
man  shall  cease  to  lay  his  cotton-rows  up  one  hill  and  down 
the  other,  thus  draining  off  the  vitality  of  his  land  every  three 
to  three  and  a-half  feet,  to  the  depth  of  his  puny  plough,  or  to 
waste  the  sure  means  of  keeping  up  the  fertility  of  his  fields, 
by  feeding  his  stock  in  the  public  roads,  or  on  the  branch-side ; 
but,  with  the  lights  of  science  and  experience  before  us,  wisdom 
clearly  points  out  the  course  which  it  is  our  duty  to  pursue 
while  we  do  live,  from  a  three-fold  binding  consideration : 
first,  our  individual  interest ;  then  the  true  interest  of  our 
country ;  and,  lastly,  the  obligation  we  are  under  to  the  true 
interests  of  our  children,  to  use  diligently  every  means  in  our 
power,  to  inform  ourselves  and  the  public  mind  as  to  the  most 
economical  modes  of  plantation  economy.  I  have  no  patience 
with  the  inactive,  inoperative  friendship  for  agricultural  im- 
provement, of  those  clever  gentlemen  who  tell  me  continually  : 
Sir,  your  systems  are  beautiful,  your  exertions  are  praise- 
worthy, all  your  manure  and  manure-making,  with  your  grade- 
4 


74  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

ditching  and  horizontaling,  and  your  rotations,  &c  ,  &c.,  are 
conditions  actually  essential  to  the  improvement  of  our  agri- 
culture ;  but, — say  they, — like  every  other  country,  this  beau- 
tiful forest  must  be  felled  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  Mr.  Carenot, 
all  this  maiden  and  fertile  soil  must  first  be  exhausted  and 
washed  into  the  branches,  gurgling  in  pure  and  limpid  water 
from  the  hand  of  nature,  and  the  fields  defaced  by  gullies  and 
poverty-grass,  and  not  till  then  can  we  give  in  to  a  complete 
and  perfect  system  of  improvement. 

I  beg  to  be  distinctly  understood  here,  as  alluding  to  the  great 
principles  of  improvement,  and  not  to  any  individual  practice 
under  it.  In  my  own  practice  and  system  of  rotation,  which 
I  have  had  in  successful  operation  here  at  La  Place  since  1846, 
I  am  not  immovably  confident  that  I  have  hit  upon  that  ar- 
rangement under  the  principle  that  is  to  accomplish  the  best 
results.  So  sanguine  am  I,  however,  that  it  is  worthy  of 
general  adoption  in  its  main  features,  that  I  feel  no  hesitation 
in  commending  it  to  the  consideration  of  those  planters  who 
have  determined  to  begin  the  good  work  of  improvement. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  circumstances  of  locality  will,  to 
some  more  or  less  extent,  modify  the  practice;  but  the  prin- 
ciple remains  the  same. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  the  Experiments,  I  shall,  in  several 
subsequent  numbers,  treat  the  subject  as  a  matured  system 
of  plantation  economy ;  showing,  as  I  think,  and,  as  my  prac- 
tice clearly  proves,  the  eminent  advantage  of  a  proper  rotation, 
even  in  cotton  planting.  In  doing  this,  I  shall  respond  to 
your  various  inquiries  of  stock,  stock-feeding  and  manure- 
making,  &c.,  as  they  come  in  place. 

DB.  CLOUD. 


SYSTEM  AND   ROTATION.  75 


ECTION   IV. — SYSTEM   AND    ROTATION   IN    COTTON    CULTURE. 

Gov.  BROOME  :  —  I  propose,  in  this  article,  to  detail  that 
system  of  rotation  and  shift  of  crops  which  I  have  in  success- 
ful operation  here  at  La  Place,  and  which  has  thus  far  given 
entire  satisfaction.  In  adjusting  and  adopting  this  arrange- 
ment, I  have  not  been  governed  so  much  by  the  largest  amount 
of  cotton  that  might  be  grown  on  the  plantation,  as  by  the 
amount  of  independence  in  plantation  economy,  which  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  farm,  under  proper  management,  is  competent  to 
secure  to  the  labor  and  pains-taking  of  the  proprietor.  In 
other  words,  after  innumerable  experiments  and  tests,  this 
system  has  been  adopted  as  the  one  best  and  surest,  calculated 
to  feed  and  clothe  the  operatives  of  the  plantation,  supply  all 
the  stock  necessary  to  its  various  uses,  improve  annually  and 
protect  the  fertility  of  the  land,  and  leave,  at  the  end  of  each 
year,  the  proceeds  of  a  fair  cotton  crop  as  the  clear  profits  of 
the  plantation  with  all  its  outfit.  I  shall  not  presume  to  say 
that  there  have  not  been  favored  localities  in  the  older  plant- 
ing States  east  of  this,  whereon  three  of  the  above-stated 
important  conditions  of  plantation  independence  were  for  a 
time  possessed;  nor  do  I  say  that  there  are  not  such  favored 
localities  in  the  new  or  western  States ;  but  this  I  will  say, 
that  the  total  absence  and  disregard  of  the  fourth  and  all- 
important  condition,  the  improvement  and  protection  of  the 
fertility  of  the  soil,  together  with  the  increasing  population  of 
the  country,  having  shorn  such  favored  localities  in  the  old 
States  of  these  advantages,  will  deprive  them  in  the  new  States, 
wherever  the  great  principle  of  improvement  is  disregarded,  in 
the  absence  of  some  system  of  plantation  economy  that  might 
otherwise  sustain  them.  It  is  this  great  error,  this  fatal  error 
in  the  plantation  economy  of  the  cotton-growing  States,  I  have 


76  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

diligently,  for  fifteen  years,  sought  a  remedy  for.  I  have  at 
no  time  been  interested  to  teach  planters  how  to  make  large 
crops  of  cotton  and  corn  on  rich  land.  I  do  not  know  an  in- 
dustrious man  in  Macon  county,  who  cannot  grow  a  large  crop 
of  cotton  and  corn  if  he  has  rich  land  to  cultivate.  Sambo, 
with  no  other  instruction  but  the  observation  gathered  from 
the  hurried  directions  of  his  overseer,  can,  and  frequently  has, 
on  rich  land,  made  a  big  crop  of  cotton.  And  it  is  in  this  phase 
of  the  question  that  this  fatal  error  is  seen  in  its  strongest  light. 
Look  back,  if  you  please,  toward  the  rising  sun,  and  see  the 
scant  pittance  with  which  land,  once  rich  in  its  maiden  fertility, 
now  rewards  the  industrious  labor  of  the  merely  plougher  and 
koer. 

My  chief  object  has  been,  in  patiently  prosecuting  these  ex- 
periments, and  in  watching  and  investigating  their  results,  to 
devise  a  system  of  plantation  economy  which,  while  it  will,  in 
the  aggregate,  bountifully  remunerate  the  industrious  labor 
and  pains-taking  of  the  planter,  will,  at  the  same  time,  make 
poor  land  rich,  and  rich  land  better.  The  allurements  of  an 
honorable  and  lucrative  profession,  and  the  jibes  with  the 
pointing  finger  of  ridicule  from  kind  friends,  have  proved 
equally  unavailing  in  diverting  my  attention  for  a  moment 
from  the  one  great  object ;  and  I  may  now  exclaim,  and  do, 
triumphantly,  Eureka  ! — I  have  found  it !  And  if  there  be  a 
single  feature  about  this  system  that  affords  me  more  pleasure 
than  another,  it  is,  that  the  perfection  of  the  system,  with  all 
its  advantages,  are  as  accessible  to  the  planter  of  humble 
means,  as  to  the  planter  of  more  extended  means.  There  is 
nothing  foreign,  intricate,  or  costly  about  it.  It  is  the  pro 
duction  of  the  country,  the  soil,  and  the  climate  where  we 
live. 

It  is  immaterial  what  number  of  hands  may  work  on  the 
place,  we  allot  to  each  twenty  acres,  and  upon  this  condition 


SYSTEM  AND   ROTATION.  77 

proceed  to  divide  the  land  into  four  equal  parts,  adopting  the 
system  of  four  years'  shift  as  best  suited  to  our  plantation  econ- 
omy. The  first  object  which  I  direct  attention  to,  is  to  grade 
— ditch  the  land  where  necessary  (which  it  is  generally),  and 
horizontal  the  rows  perfectly  level — this  is  proper  and  superior 
to  all  other  plans  on  sandy  land.  In  the  next  place,  I  fix  the 
rotation,  and  shift  thus  :  five  acres  to  each  hand  in  cotton,  ten 
acres  for  grain,  and  five  to  lie  in  fallow.  Our  system  of  shift- 
ing crops  proceeds  in  this  way.  I  plant  cotton  on  the  same 
land  once  in  four  years,  and  the  cotton  is  always  planted  on 
fallow  land,  with  a  dressing  of  500  bushels  of  compost  or  stock 
y£kl  manure  per  acre,  which  is  spread  on  the  land  broad-cast, 
and  incorporated  with  the  soil  uniformly  in  the  process  of  bed- 
ding out  the  rows.  This  will  be  more  minutely  explained 
under  the  head  of  "Application  of  Manures."  Let  it  be  borne 
in  mind  now,  that  this  land  is  perfectly  level,  and  that  all  rain 
water  sinks  into  the  soil  where  it  falls,  and  the  residue  of  the 
cotton  stalks,  leaves,  burs,  blooms  and  limbs,  with  the  seed, 
except  for  planting,  are  all  returned  back  to  the  same  land 
where  they  grew.  Upon  this  land  the  next  year  we  plant  corn, 
manuring  it  with  cotton  seed.  But  to  our  corn  crop,  which  I 
regard  as  the  most  important  crop  on  the  plantation,  we  add 
two  acres  of  the  land  which  was  in  corn  last  year,  thus  giving 
us  seven  acres  in  corn  to  each  hand.  On  the  other  three  acres 
of  that  portion  that  was  in  corn  last  year,  we  sow  small  grain, 
which  upon  land  thus  treated,  will  furnish  a  sufficiency  of  oats, 
rye,  and  wheat,  for  the  wants  of  the  plantation,  when  you 
have  such  a  crop  of  corn  as  we  provide  for.  Then  we  have 
lying  in  fallow,  for  the  next  year's  cotton  crop,  the  three  acres 
that  were  in  small  grain  last  year.  Every  one  will  see  at 
once  the  simplicity  of  this  system  of  rotation  and  shift  of  crops. 
I  will  now  endeavor,  as  briefly  as  possible,  to  give  the  rea- 
sons why  I  believe  this  to  be  the  best  system  of  rotation  and 


78  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

shift  of  crops  that  can  be  adopted  in  a  cotton-growing  country. 
In  the  first  place,  it  embraces  all  the  conditions  necessary  to 
sustain  the  cotton-planting  interest  within  itself,  independent 
of  external  or  foreign  aid.  To  this  feature,  I  think,  there 
cannot  be  too  much  importance  attached.  Again,  the  several 
crops  succeed  each  other  to  better  advantage,  both  as  to  their 
culture  and  healthy  growth,  than  in  any  other  way  that  we 
have  seen  or  attempted.  It  may  not  be  generally  understood 
by  planters  from  practice,  because  it  is  not  a  common  practice, 
indeed  it  is  of  the  rarest  occurrence,  how  well  cotton  grows 
after  one  year's  rest  or  fallow.  I  conceive  it  to  be,  in  its 
healthy,  vigorous  growth,  and  exemption  from  insects,  rrrl're 
like  growing  cotton  on  fresh  land.  Nor  will  this  be  difficult 
for  any  planter  to  comprehend,  when  he  recollects  that  on  the 
fallow  I  spread  500  bushels  per  acre  of  good  stock-yard  com- 
post, or  its  equivalent. 

I  am  sure  I  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  persuading  any 
planter  that  corn  grows  better,  bears  better,  and  is  less 
trouble  to  cultivate  after  cotton,  than  after  any  other  crop. 
So  well,  indeed,  does  it  do,  after  a  crop  of  cotton  that  has  re- 
ceived a  dressing  of  500  bushels  per  acre  of  manure,  that  it  is 
yet  a  matter  of  uncertainty  with  me,  after  twelve  years'  ex- 
perience, whether  or  not  a  good  corn  crop. is  not  more  certain 
without  than  with  the  seed  ;  and  if  we  have  drought,  it  is  cer- 
tainly best  not  to  use  the  seed  on  corn  thus  treated.  Then 
we  have  the  seed  to  add  to  our  compost  heap  for  our  cotton. 
Then,  again,  the  effect  of  the  corn  and  small  grain  crops  on 
the  land  being  about  the  same,  I  prefer  placing  the  small 
grain  after  the  corn,  as  it  does  better  after  corn  than  corn  does 
after  it.  After  the  small  grain,  the  land  lies  one  year  in  fal- 
low. I  have  a  theory  about  this  four  years'  shift  and  one 
year  in  fallow,  in  regard  to  its  curative  influence  upon  the 
diseases  of  the  cotton  plant.  Of  course  I  cannot  go  into  its 


SYSTEM  AND   ROTATION.  79 

explanation  here,  but  I  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  if  the  same 
land  throughout  the  country  was  planted  in  cotton  but  once  in 
four  years,  it  would  prevent  the  insect  of  rust — I  am  sure  it 
would  of  lice,  and  I  think  it  altogether  probable  it  would  do 
much  toward  relieving  it  from  the  injury  of  the  bole  worm. 

"Under  this  treatment  the  plantation  is  every  year  improv- 
ing. From  the  extent  of  pasturage  which  it  affords,  and  the 
large  amount  of  corn  raised  on  the  plantation,  an  average  of 
250  bushels  per  hand,  there  will  be  no  manner  of  difficulty  in 
raising  all  the  stock,  hogs,  mules  and  cattle,  that  are  needed 
on  the  plantation.  It  has  been  objected  to  this  system, 
that  in  the  extent  of  pasturage  afforded,  prairie  and  clay  land 
would  become  too  much  trod  by  the  stock,  causing  such  land 
to  run  together  and  break  up  clody.  I  am  confident  the  ob- 
jection is  unfounded,  as  the  great  object  of  the  system  is  to 
accumulate  on  the  land  the  largest  possible  amount  of  vege- 
table matter,  which,  while  it  keeps  the  land  loose  and  friable, 
contributes  so  largely  to  the  luxuriant  and  healthy  growth 
of  cotton.  These  objections,  that  fail  to  stand  the  theory 
and  science  of  agriculture,  fall  to  the  ground  as  impotent  and 
futile,  when  we  examine  the  same  system  (in  principle)  in 
successful  practice  in  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
&c.,  on  calcareous  clay  lands,  raising  by  pasturage,  &c.,  not 
only  mules,  horses,  hogs,  and  cattle  for  home  consumption, 
but^r  all  our  cotton  planters.  There  is  an  incompatability 
here  certainly.  The  only  precaution  necessary,  is  to  prevent 
stock  running  on  the  land  while  wet  with  rain  water  standing 
on  it. 

There  is  notking  more  easy  than  to  account  for  this  false 
alarm  among  cotton  planters.  See  the  sedulous  care,  if  you 
please,  with  which  they  have  drained  the  vegetable  strata  of 
their  fields,  for  the  last  forty  years ;  each  row  is  a  perfect 
drain,  not  of  water  alone,  but  of  vegetable  mold,  the  life's 


80  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

blood  of  the  land  ;  the  cotton  and  corn  stalks  generally  burn- 
ed; thus  denuded  and  leached,  it  is  .not  surprising  that  the 
hoof  of  a  hungry  cow  should  poison  it  ! 

It  is  further  objected,  by  those  otherwise  approving  the 
system,  that  it  will  not  make  cotton  enough  ;  that  it  does  not 
lot  sufficient  land  to  secure  every  year  a  full  crop  of  cotton. 
To  this  objection  we  simply  oppose  at  first  this  fact.  No  man 
in  this  country,  on  the  same  quality  of  land,  has  realized  from 
1844  to  1853  inclusive,  to  the  same  proportion  of  hands,  what 
I  have,  notwithstanding  I  have  been  experimenting  all  the 
time.  If  I  have  not  made  as  many  bales  of  cotton,  which  is 
improbable,  I  have  raised  that  which  cotton  had  to  supply 
necessarily.  This  is  obvious  in  the  substantial  improvements 
on  the  land,  and  its  increased  value,  at  least  five  hundred  per 
cent. ;  not  that  I  could  simply  sell  it  for  that  much  over  and 
above  its  cost  twelve  years  ago,  but  it  is  its  absolute  annual 
production.  Nor  does  it  possess  any  artificial  advantages  of 
railroad  or  city  value,  as  land  in  sight  of  it  of  the  same  qual- 
ity, and  just  as  valuable  in  1843,  under  the  "  kill  and  cripple 
policy"  of  the  country,  sold  last  year  at  less  than  $6.25  per 
acre. 

DR.  CLOUD. 


SECTION  V. — SYSTEM   AND  ROTATION  IN   COTTON   CULTURE — 
CONTINUED. 

Gov.  BROOME  : — In  the  Nov.  number  of  this  Journal,  (Am. 
Cotton  Planter,}  I  did  not  conclude  all  that  I  Irad  to  say  under 
this  head.  I  detailed  there  the  "  System  of  Rotation  and  Shift 
of  Crops"  that  I  pursue  here,  and  in  which  I  have  the  fullest 
confidence.  The  object  of  this  article  is  to  show  that  some 
such  article  as  this,  producing  the  same  results  is  essential  to 


SYSTEM   AND   ROTATION.  81 

the  renovation  of  our  already  exhausted  fields — to  retain  and 
improve  the  productive  quality  of  our  new  lands,  and  to 
secure  at  the  same  time  the  raising  at  home  of  sufficient  pro- 
visions with  plantation  teams,  enabling  us  entirely  within  our- 
selves to  carry  forward  the  prosperous  production  of  our  cot- 
ton. In  every  other  section  of  this  country,  north,  east,  and 
west,  the  proceeds  of  the  productive  industry  of  the  people 
in  the  grand  aggregate,  are  retained  at  home,  while  we,  the 
planters  of  the  south,  producing  annually,  from  a  single  one 
of  our  crops,  $150,000,000  !  pay  out  the  grand  aggregate  to 
others  for  bread,  bacon,  and  mules,  all  of  which  we  may,  un- 
der a  proper  system  of  plantation  economy  grow  at  home,  and 
thus  we  may  retain  at  home  also  this  large  sum  of  gold,  the 
substance  of  our  fields,  to  be  expended  in  home  improve- 
ments. 

It  is  an  entirely  fallacious  political  economy  that  supposes 
for  a  moment,  that  we  are  to  make  so  much  cotton  annually, 
at  the  sacrifice  of  our  personal  and  national  interests ;  and  it 
is  as  equally  fallacious  to  argue,  as  many  do,  that  it  is  our 
true  policy  to  buy  bread,  bacon,  and  mules  of  others — though 
we  may  be  able  to  raise  them — that  they  may  be  induced  to 
buy  our  cotton.  There  are  other  arguments  for  this  ruinous 
policy  too  frivolous  with  which  to  detain  you. 

Now  I  insist  upon  it  boldly,  that  this  whole  barter  policy  is 
totally  at  fault.  It  is  one  of  dependence  and  slavishness. 
With  a  climate  and  soil  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  production 
of  cotton,  our  country  is  also  equally  favorable  to  the  produc- 
tion of  all  the  necessary  cereals,  and  as  remarkably  favorable 
to  the  perfect  development  of  the  animal  economy,  in  fine 
horses,  fine  active  mules,  good  milch  cattle,  superior  sheep, 
and  fat  hogs,  and  for  fruit  of  every  variety  (not  tropical)  it  is 
eminently  superior.  If  this  condition  of  things  be  fact,  and  I 
assert  it  to  be  such,  why  is  it  that  we  find  so  many  wealthy 
4* 


82  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

cotton  planters,  whose  riches  consist  entirely  of  their  slaves 
and  worn  out  plantations  ?  I  desire  to  show,  and  I  shall 
prove  it  in  practice,  that  a  judiciously  arranged  system  of 
plantation  economy  will  secure  upon  the  plantation  sufficient 
grain,  bacon,  and  mules  to  supply  its  wants :  and  a  cotton 
crop,  unincumbered  by  these  absolute  necessaries,  that  realize 
a  handsome  dividend  upon  the  capital  and  labor  of  the  planter. 
In  this  cycle  of  rotation  and  shift  of  crops  that  I  practice, 
there  is  afforded,  in  the  first  place,  every  necessary  means  of 
improving  the  fertility  of  the  land.  Another  striking  feature 
about  it,  and  not  the  least  recommendatory  of  it,  is  the 
amount  of  rich  pasturage  that  it  affords  for  stock.  I  regard 
this  as  among  its  highest  recommendations.  Stock  cannot  be 
raised  successfully  or  advantageously  without  pasturage,  in 
addition  to  well-filled  cribs  of  grain.  The  quantity  of  land 
appropriated  under  this  arrangement  to  corn,  secures  a  suf- 
ficiency of  that  grain  for  all  needful  purposes.  This  crop 
should  always  be  laid  by  early,  and  p§as,  the  common  cow- 
pea,  or  some  of  its  varieties,  sowed  broad-cast  over  the  land 
and  ploughed  or  harrowed  in,  which  adds  very  materially  to 
the  value  of  the  pasturage,  as  well  as  improves  the  condition 
of  the  land.  It  is  argued  by  planters  generally  that  grazing 
land  injures  it  more  than  the  stock  are  benefited  by  the  pas- 
turage. The  argument  is  too  often  illegitimate  !  The  land  is 
first  ruined  by  the  one-crop  practice  of  cotton,  &c.,  till  the 
vegetable  mold  and  inorganic  salts  of  the  surface  and 
ploughed  soil  are^exhausted,  it  is  then  turned  out  to  pasture. 
It  soon  runs  together,  of  course,  produces  little  grass,  and  sus- 
tains poor  stock.  The  difficulty  is  not  so  much  in  the  injury, 
which  the  hungry  stock  did  in  grazing  the  pasture,  as  the 
ruinous  system  of  culture  that  prevented  any  pasture  at  all. 
Land  under  an  improving  system  of  culture  is  not-  thus 
affected.  Rich  land  upon  which  water  is  not  permitted  to 


SYSTEM   AND    ROTATION.  83 

run,  whether  naturally  rich  or  made  so  by  art,  furnishes  a 
wilderness  of  grazing,  when  turned  to  pasturage,  which  not 
only  greatly  improves  the  condition  of  the  stock,  but  retains 
a  sufficiency  of  refuse  vegetable  matter,  which,  after  the 
plough,  keeps  up  the  loose  and  friable  condition  of  the  land. 
It  is  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  that  we  see  this  self-sustaining 
system  of  plantation  economy.  Under  this  system,  or  any  one 
like  it,  furnishing  the  amount  and  value  of  pasturage  that  it 
does,  the  raising  and  keeping  of  stock,  mules,  hogs,  and  cattle, 
necessary  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  plantation,  become  a 
source  of  absolute  profit — the  land  is  made  rich,  and  continues 
improving  in  the  production  of  the  elements  of  fertility — the 
compost  manure  is  made  valuable,  because  it  is  trod  up  and 
mixed  with  the  excrements  of  stock  kept  fat  on  rich  pastur- 
age. This  rich  compost  manure,  applied  to  the  land  once 
every  four  years,  in  quantities  sufficient  to  make  a  bale  of 
cotton  per  acre,  continues  to  improve  the  land  and  thus  in- 
crease annually  the  grain  crops  and  pasturage.  All  this  is 
simple,  plain,  and  practical. 

It  is  objected  to  this  country  by  planters  and  others  taking 
their  cue  from  them  on  account  of  its  "  short  bite"  and  sterile 
pasturage,  as  they  are  pleased  to  call  it.  Nor  has  there  been 
a  designed  misrepresentation  in  this :  it  is  the  result  of  ob- 
servation derived  from  the  working  of  this  universally  drain- 
ing system  of  growing  cotton.  Now  the  facts  which  my  prac- 
tice and  observation  under  this  system  have  demonstrated, 
are  these :  that  no  country  is  equal  to  this  for  good  and 
"  long-nip"  pasturage  !  Our  climate  is  remarkably  favorable 
to  rich  and  luxuriant  pasturage.  The  red  man  of  the  forest 
and  the  pioneer  white  man,  that  came  here  in  advance  of  our 
"  scratching  ploughs/7  tell  us  they  found  the  wild  oat  and  na- 
tive grasses  waving  thick,  as  high  as  a  man's  head,  and  so  en- 
twined with  the  wild  pea  vine,  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  ride 


84 

among  it,  all  over  this  country.  Every  cotton  planter  has 
heard  of  these  fine  primitive  pasture  ranges,  and  many  have 
seen  them.  If  the  country  or  the  climate  has  been  cursed  in 
our  appearance  as  planters  here,  it  has  been  in  the  wasting 
system  that  we  introduced  and  continue  to  practice.  There 
is  no  grass,  for  hay  or  pasturage,  superior  to  our  crab  grass,  a 
native  to  the  "manor  born."  Up  by  the  1st  of  April  and 
continues  green  and  growing  (when  properly  managed) 
throughout  the  summer  and  fall  till  frost.  The  land  once  set 
with  it  never  requires  seeding  again.  Our  crow  foot  is  also 
a  most  invaluable  late  summer  and  fall  grass.  The  short  and 
extreme  mildness  of  our  winters,  with  the  various  evergreen 
or  winter  grasses,  in  connection  with  red  clover,  rye  and 
barley  for  winter  and  early  spring  grazing,  enable  us  to  keep 
stock  through  the  winter  cheaper  than  farmers  can  in  higher 
latitudes. 

Under  a  system  affording  such  facilities  for  grain  in  abun- 
dance, rich  and  extensive  pasturage  with  fat  home-raised 
stock  of  every  variety  and  land  improving  annually  in  fer- 
tility, the  culture  of  cotton  becomes  a  process  of  gardening, 
productive  and  remunerating.  The  land  may  always  be 
wrought  to  the  best  advantage,  without  injury  at  any  time  to 
either  crop  or  soil. 

Again :  cotton  thus  treated  matures  earlier,  feeds  and 
fruits  more  rapidly,  being  strong  and  healthy,  and  less  affected 
by  insects,  lice,  rust,  or  the  worm.  Of  course,  then,  it  opens 
earlier  and  may  be  gathered  to  better  advantage  and  in  bet- 
ter order.  It  also  affords  a  greater  degree  of  certainty  for  a 
fair  crop,  both  to  the  land  and  hand.  This  is  the  result  of 
causes,  both  legitimate  and  philosophical ;  first,  the  land  is 
provided  with  the  food  in  proper  form  and  quantity,  which 
the  cotton  plant  requires  to  bring  it  early  to  maturity;  again, 
there  is  time  and  opportunity  afforded  to  prepare  the  land  for 


COMPOST  MANURES,   ETC.  £5 

the  reception  of  the  seed,  and  the  mode  of  seeding  also  secures 
a  stand,  perfect,  regular,  and  uniform  throughout ;  by  perfect 
I  mean  the  mathematical  arrangement  by  which  the  hills  or 
stalks  of  cotton  are  so  placed  on  the  land  as  to  feed  equally, 
grow  uniformly,  and  at  maturity,  fill  up  the  land  completely. 
In  the  January  number  of  this  Journal,  we  shall  treat 
fully  of  the  preparation  and  application  of  plantation  compost 
manure,  with  some  remarks  perhaps  on  the  application  of 
guano  and  its  value  as  a  fertilizer  in  southern  agriculture,  the 
result  of  some  twelve  years'  experience. 

DR.   CLOUD. 


SECTION   VI. — COMPOST  MANURES  J    STOCK-YARDS,   ETC. 

Gov.  BROOM  E: — The  preparation  of  stock -yard  compost 
manure,  and  its  proper  application  to  the  soil,  as  a  fertilizer,  in 
the  production  of  our  important  crops,  cotton  and  grain — with 
some  remarks  on  the  value  of  guano  to  the  Southern  planter, 
will  claim  our  attention  at  this  time.  This  species  of  fertilizer, 
the  most  common,  and  cheapest  to  the  planter,  is  valuable  in 
proportion  to  the  care  and  attention  exercised  by  the  proprie- 
tor in  its  preparation.  This  fact  I  have  clearly  shown  in  a 
previous  article.  I  have  given  this  subject  much  careful  atten- 
tion, and  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  too  much  importance 
cannot  be  attached  to  it,  as  an  integral  item  in  our  plantation 
economy.  Compost  manuring,  in  connection  with  stock  raising 
and  pasturage,  is  the  true  renovator  of  all  agricultural  exhaus- 
tion. Stock  are  the  inseparable  companions  of  agriculture. 
All  the  team  service  of  the  plantation  they  perform.  They 
also  furnish  quite  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  food  con- 
sumed by  the  family  and  operatives  of  the  plantation.  In  the 
performance  of  all  this  important  service,  they  must  consume, 


8G 

on  their  part,  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  the  produce  of 
the  plantation.  In  this  consumption,  however,  of  hay,  fodder 
and  grain,  under  proper  management  there  is  nothing  really 
destroyed  or  lost  to  the  plantation.  It  is  at  this  point  the 
great  difficulty  is  encountered  by  planters,  in  the  preparation 
of  compost  manures.  When  the  range  is  relied  on  for  stock 
raising  and  feeding,  as  is  almost  universally  the  case  in  the 
planting  States,  the  penning  and  shelter  of  stock  evSry  night 
is  attended  with  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  the  food  consumed 
— after  the  first  month  or  so  in  the  early  spring — is  of  such  a 
character,  and  procured  at  such  toil  on  the  part  of  the  stock, 
as  merely  to  sustain  animal  life,  and  their  excrements,  of 
course,  almost  valueless  as  a  fertilizer — at  least  comparatively 
so.  This  fact,  connected  with  the  rude  and  careless  means 
usually  adopted  on  plantations  for  composting  and  saving  ma- 
nure, furnishes  the  criteria  upon  which  the  opinion  of  the 
planting  public  is  based,  as  to  the  value  of  compost  manures, 
and  the  importance  of  its  preparation  in  the  plantation  economy 
of  the  country. 

In  an  article  published  in  the  November  number  of  this 
journal,  extracted  from  a  premium  Essay  prepared  for  the 
"  Maryland  Agricultural  Society,"  the  position  is  taken  that 
compost  manures  are  not  worth  the  hauling.  This  is  the  result 
of  experience  in  Virginia.  This  opinion  is  very  common  all 
over  the  country,  and  it  is  the  effect  of  that  state  of  things 
which  we  have  detailed  above.  My  experience  for  the  last 
twelve  years,  has  led  me  to  a  very  different  conclusion.  An 
alysis  shows  that  the  dung  of  animals — the  horse,  cow  and 
hog — well  kept,  abounds  in  the  very  same  fertilizing  elements 
that  make  guano  so  valuable.  If,  then,  the  proper  treatment 
of  stock  on  the  plantation  fit  them  for  the  greatest  value  as 
teamsters,  milkers  and  porkers,  and  in  that  condition  their  ex- 
crements produce  the  most  valuable  fertilizer,  how  important 


COMPOST  MANURES,   ETC.  87 

is  it,  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  that  the  fact  be  distinctly 
understood  and  acted  on  by  the  planters  of  the  country.  My 
experience  fully  sustains  this  position.  In  a  previous  article 
I  have  shown  that  this  system  of  rotation  and  shift  of  crops 
furnish  the  necessary  means,  in  rich  pasturage  and  abundance 
of  grain,  to  keep  the  stock  of  the  plantation  in  proper  condition. 
In  this  condition  of  the  stock  of  the  plantation,  I  may  answer 
another  one  of  your  inquiries,  as  to  the  number  of  stock  that 
may  be  thus  kept  to  the  hand.  This  answer  is  properly  in 
place  here,  previous  to  entering  upon  the  details  of  preparing 
compost  manure.  Twenty  head  of  cattle  to  five  hands,  will 
answer  all  the  wants  of  the  plantation.  The  number  of  hogs 
is  to  be  measured  by  the  bacon  necessary  to  do  the  place. 
Plough  teams,  one  for  every  two  hands,  and  sheep  enough  to 
clothe  the  negroes.  Of  course,  on  large  plantations  the  exact 
number  cannot  perhaps  be  preserved,  but  about  this  proportion 
will  be  found  to  answer  every  needful  purpose.  .Now  then,  on 
a  plantation  thus  arranged  and  stocked,  as  mine  is,  I  shall 
proceed  to  give  in  detail  the  plan  of  operations  which  I  pursue, 
by  which  I  am  enabled  to  make  2,500  bushels  of  good  rich 
compost  manure  per  hand  every  year,  and  the  only  proper 
mode  of  applying  it  to  the  land. 

In  the  first  place,  the  farmer's  golden  rule  is  emphatically 
applicable  here,  and,  I  may  add,  entirely  essential  to  success — 
"  a  place  for  every  thing,  and  every  thing  in  its  place."  Each 
kind  of  stock  must  be  provided  with  lots  and  shelter,  and  they 
must  be  induced  or  driven  into  their  quarters  every  night  dur- 
ing the  entire  year.  These  lots,  stables  and  shelters,  are  to  be 
constantly  and  regularly  kept  well  littered  with  vegetable 
matter,  which  being  broken  and  tread  up  by  the  stock  walking 
and  trampling  over  it,  forms  a  most  valuable  absorbent  for  pre- 
serving the  fluid  portions  of  the  excrements.  For  gathering 
pine  straw,  oak  leaves,  ancl  other  decaying  vegetable  matter 


COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

from  the  forest,  I  have  seen  various  plans  recommended,  such 
as  detailing  such  hand  or  hands  and  cart,  for  every  five  or  ten 
hands  on  the  place,  &c.  But  I  have  found  no  plan  to  answer 
so  well  in  practice  as  this :  I  have  prepared  for  each  hand  a 
good,  substantial  and  handy  iron-toothed  rake ;  during  wet, 
rainy  weather,  all  hands  with  these  rakes  gather  rapidly  large 
quantities  of  vegetable  matter,  which  is  as  readily  hauled  into 
the  lots  on  large  frames  made  for  the  purpose.  This  is  a  gene- 
ral rule,  and  rigidly  persevered  in  during  all  the  year,  except 
in  winter  after  the  crop  is  gathered,  when  I  have  it  hauled 
into  the  lots  as  it  may  be  needed,  as  we  are  not  then  so  par- 
ticularly engaged  in  the  plantation.  In  the  spring  and  sum 
mer,  after  every  fall  of  rain,  all  hands  are  engaged  in  raking 
up  and  hauling  litter  into  the  stock  lots.  Under  this  arrange- 
ment, a  day  after  the  fall  of  a  wetting  rain  can  be  more  valua- 
bly employed  by  the  hands  of  the  plantation  in  collecting 
materials  for  preparing  manure,  than  by  ploughing  or  hoeing 
the  wet  soil.  Every  planter  knows  well  the  injury  done  to  the 
land  by  working  on  it  while  wet.  The  crop  is  not  benefited 
by  work  done  at  such  time,  nor  is  the  grass  or  weeds  so  likely 
to  be  subdued.  But  the  time  may  be  most  valuably  employed 
in  preparing  the  materials  for  composition  manure,  and  when 
the  land  is  in  proper  condition  for  work,  the  cultivation  of  the 
crop  is  resumed  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  The 
great  point  gained  is  this :  the  large  amount  of  rich,  product- 
ive manure,  which  being  applied  to  the  land,  under  judicious 
culture  secures  the  production  of  the  desired  crops  on  one-third 
the  surface  required  on  the  same  land  to  grow  it  without  the 
manure.  After  the  preparation  and  planting,  manured  land 
being  just  as  easy  to  cultivate  as  that  unmanured,  the  time  for 
preparing  manure  while  the  land  is  wet  after  a  recent  fall  of 
rain,  is  most  profitably  employed.  All  decaying  vegetable 
matter  about  the  plantation,  such  as  weeds,  grass,  &c.,  that 


COMPOST   MANURES,    ETC.  89 

grow  and  collect  in  the  fence  jams,  in  low  wet  places,  in  the 
ditches,  &c.,  should  be  carefully  raked  up,  and  at  a  convenient 
time  hauled  into  the  stock  lots.  Muck,  also,  where  it  may 
exist  in  ponds  and  branches  within  or  contiguous  to  the  plan- 
tation, should  be  hauled  up  in  the  summer  while  dry  and  light, 
as  nothing  contributes  more  valuably  to  the  compost  heap,  nor 
is  any  absorbent  perhaps  more  retentive  of  the  valuable  fluid 
portions  of  fat  animal  excrements.  This  is  the  process  by 
which  I  am  enabled  to  prepare  the  large  quantities  of  rich,  va- 
luable compost  manure  per  hand,  which  I  apply  to  my  land 
annually. 

There  is  another  important  item  in  the  preparation  of  ma- 
nure, which  should  be  mentioned  here.  It  is  the  construction 
of  the  stock  lots.  This  should  be  done  in  such  manner  as  to 
prevent  any  water  from  running  into  them,  that  does  not  fall 
immediately  on  them,  nor  should  any  water  be  allowed  to  es- 
cape from  them.  Moisture  is  a  component  part  of  compost 
manure.  Too  much  water,  however,  adds  more  to  the  expense 
of  carriage  than  to  value  in  fertility.  This  teaches  the  econ- 
omy of  housing  and  sheltering  the  compost  "heap,  that  we  may 
be  spared  the  expense  of  hauling  to  the  field  so  much  water, 
quite  as  heavy  as  the  manure  itself,  and  of  no  value.  Of 
course,  every  planter  engaging  in  the  preparation  and  saving 
of  compost  manure,  will  consult  the  conveniences  of  locality, 
&c.,  of  his  plantation,  in  the  construction  of  his  stock  houses 
and  lots,  and  other  arrangements  for  the  business. 

I  shall  now  give  you  my  mode  of  applying  the  manure  to 
the  land.  Of  course  I  esteem  it  the  proper  mode.  As  I  have 
stated  elsewhere,  my  land,  though  but  little  undulating,  is  all 
laid  off  in  rows,  as  nearly  level  as  instrumental  operations  can 
accomplish.  The  manure  is  hauled  out  on  the  land  in  carts, 
in  tumbling  bodies,  graduated  to  hold  an  exact  number  of 
bushels.  In  the  commencement,  a  row  is  selected,  fifteen  feet 


90  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

from  the  fence  or  beginning.  This  is  the  heap  row.  Fifteen 
feet  from  the  end  of  this  row,  the  first  heap,  or  half  the  load 
is  deposited ;  it  is  raked  out  by  removing  the  hind  gate  of  the 
body.  Thirty  feet  from  this,  on  the  same  row,  the  second 
heap  is  made  by  tumbling  the  body,  when  all  the  manure 
slips  out,  and  the  further  trouble  of  unloading  is  saved.  The 
following  simple  diagram,  of  a  single  acre,  shows  the  simplicity 
and  perfection  of  this  mode  of  operation  at  a  moment's  view. 
Any  overseer  can  understand  it  in  a  minute's  time,  and  a  ne- 
gro of  ordinary  intelligence  is  enabled  to  do  the  work,  without 
any  difficulty  or  inconvenience. 


******* 

I 
******* 


EXPLANATION. — The  stars  represent  the  heaps  of  manure, 
each  containing  ten  bushels,  placed  in  the  centre  of  squares 
of  900  square  superficial  feet — giving  forty -nine  to  each  acre. 

Thus  it  is  seen  with  what  perfect  regularity  and  uniformity 


COMPOST  MANURES,   GUANO,   ETC.  91 

the  manure  is  hauled  on  the  land.  This  done,  we  proceed  to 
spread  it  out  over  the  land,  by  first  running  off  the  rows  with 
a  scooter-plough  in  the  old  water  furrow,  which  is  yet  per- 
fectly visible,  though  the  land  lay  last  year  in  fallow — then  two 
hands  are  put  to  each  heap  row  of  manure,  with  good  shovels 
(Ames'  long  handles  are  best),  and  they  scatter  each  heap 
for  fifteen  feet  on  all  sides,  which  gives  ten  bushels  of  good 
manure  to  the  surface  of  900  square  feet.  All  this  is  plain, 
simple,  efficacious  and  practical ;  thus  the  broadcasting  con- 
tinues, until  one  suit  of  rows  is  done,  when  the  ploughs  com- 
mence, by  first  running  around  these  rows  with  a  scooter  good 
and  deep,  and  the  balance  is  broken  and  bedded  out  with  good 
turning-ploughs,  by  running  four  times  in  each  row,  thus  di- 
viding the  soil  equally,  and  throwing  up  each  row  uniformly. 
You  thus  see  that  the  manure  is  incorporated  equally  and  uni- 
formly throughout  all  the  soil.  Whatever  may  be  the  opinion 
of  casuists  to  the  contrary,  this  is  the  true  economy  in  the  ap- 
plication of  compost  manures.  I  have  given  you,  in  this  de- 
tail, the  plan  of  operations  that  I  pursue,  in  the  preparation 
and  application  to  the  soil  of  compost  manure ;  I  shall,  there- 
fore, close  this  article  with  a  few  brief  remarks  upon  the  ap- 
plication and  value  of  guano. 

Ten  to  twelve  years  ago,  guano,  as  a  fertilizer,  was  com- 
paratively unknown  to  the  planters  of  the  South.  At  the 
present  time,  however,  the  readers  of  the  Cotton  Planter  are 
well  "  posted  up"  on  the  subject  of  its  history  and  constituent 
elements,  as  a  fertilizer.  My  attention  was  first  directed  to 
it  in  1842,  by  an  article  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Liebig,  prepared 
for  the  British  Association  of  Agriculture.  I  was  confident, 
after  examining  his  analysis  of  guano,  that  it  contained  the 
true  elements  for  the  food  of  the  cereals,  and  for  the  cotton 
plant,  out  of  which  to  perfect  the  seed.  I  had  it  introduced 
into  Alabama  immediately,  for  experiment  on  cotton,  the  re- 


92  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

suit  of  which  experiment  proved  that  I  was  not  mistaken. 
The  great  secret  of  manuring  cotton,  like  wheat,  consists  in 
making  seed — the  true  object  of  the  cotton  planter  should  be, 
to  make  good,  full  and  perfectly-matured  cotton  seed,  as  they 
(the  seed),  produce  the  cotton  wool.  On  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, we  shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter.  Guano  is  a  truly 
valuable  fertilizer  for  grain  and  cotton,  but  to  possess  and  use 
this  valuable  agency,  we  have  to  pay  out  a  high  price  in  gold, 
already  made  from  our  farms.  It  is  a  foreigner,  and  the  cost 
of  using  it  high.  It  can  be  used  to  great  profit.  Ten  dollars 
worth  of  it,  or  300  Ibs.  per  acre,  properly  applied  to  land 
that  will  produce  500  to  1,000  Ibs.  of  cotton  per  acre,  will 
increase  the  crop  from  1,500  to  2,500  Ibs.,  due  allowance 
being  made  for  the  casualties  and  vicissitudes  affecting  the 
cotton  plant,  as  guano  is  no  specific  against  any  of  the  ills,  but 
the  lice  and  sore  shin.  Compost  manure,  prepared  and  applied 
as  I  do,  and  have  herein  described,  produces  the  same  results. 
The  use  of  guano,  then,  becomes  a  question  of  policy  alto- 
gether— just  the  same  as  whether  it  be  the  better  policy  of  the 
cotton  planter  to  purchase  his  bacon,  for  his  operatives,  from 
the  West,  or  to  raise  it  at  home.  Both  are  equally  good  when 
gotten  into  the  meat  house. 

I  have  thoroughly  tested  guano,  for  the  last  ten  or  twelve 
years,  on  every  variety  of  crops  that  we  cultivate  at  the 
South.  Its  analysis  sustains  this  position,  had  we  no  experi- 
ence in  its  use.  The  best  mode  of  application  that  I  have 
found  for  using  it  is,  first,  to  pulverize  it,  then  add  to  it  gyp- 
sum (sulphate  of  lime),  in  the  proportion  of  one  Ib.  gyp- 
sum to  two  Ibs.  of  guano.  For  small  grain,  200  Ibs.  of 
such  compost,  harrowed  in  with  the  grain,  after  thoroughly 
ploughing  the  land,  produces  a  good  crop.  A  heavier  appli- 
cation will  greatly  improve  the  crop.  For  corn,  250  to  300 
Ibs.,  drilled  along  in  the  row,  and  then  two  furrows  listed 


COMPOST   MANURES,   GUANO,    ETC.  93 

on  it,  and  when  you  get  ready  to  plant,  open  the  ridge  with  a 
scooter  and  drop  the  corn,  and  cover  as  you  desire.  Thirty 
to  forty  bushels  will  be  the  produce,  per  acre,  on  land  that, 
without  the  guano,  might  produce  ten  to  fifteen  bushels.  For 
cotton,  I  have  found  it  best  to  apply  it  in  this  way  :  first  run 
o'ff  the  rows,  and  then  ridge  with  two  scooter-furrows,  by  run- 
ning round  the  row ;  upon  this  ridge  scatter  300  to  400  Ibs. 
of  the  compound,  guano  and  gypsum,  and  then  bed  out  the 
rows  with  turn-ploughs ;  then,  when  ready,  plant  your  seed. 
Much  of  the  success  of  using  guano  depends  upon  applying  it 
early  in  the  season,  that  it  may  become  incorporated  with  the 
soil  previous  to  the  growing  season.  It  may  be  applied, 
equally  successful,  without  the  gypsum — the  gypsum,  how- 
ever, being  cheap,  can  be  used  to  advantage  with  it,  as  its  ap- 
plication is,  perhaps,  always  valuable. 

DR.  CLOUD. 


CHAP  TER    III. 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  COTTON— ITS  SPECIES  AND 
VARIETIES. 


SECTION   I. — THE   DIFFERENT  SPECIES   OF   COTTON. 

IN  dividing  the  genus  Gossypium  into  species,  we  would 
follow  Dr.  F.  B.  Hamilton,  (Linn.  Trans,  v,  8,)  who  says  that 
the  pubescence  of  the  seeds  is  a  better  criterion  than  either 
the  number  and  forms  of  the  lobes  of  the  leaf,  or  the  number 
of  glands  for  distinguishing  the  varieties.  M.  E-ohn  divides 
the  cotton  plants  with  which  he  was  acquainted — 

1.  Into  those  with  seeds  black  and  rough. 

2.  Those  with  seeds  brownish-black  and  veined. 

3.  Those  with  seeds  sprinkled  with  short  hairs. 

4.  Those  with  seeds  completely  covered  with  a  close  down. 
According  to  Dr.  Royle,  who  has  been  long  engaged  in  the 

investigation  cf  the  subject  in  Great  Britain  and  in  India,  the 
different  varieties  of  the  cotton  may  be  classed  under  four 
distinct  species,  in  the  following  manner  : 

1.  Grossypium  indicum,  or  licrl>aceum — the   cotton  plant  of 
China,  India,  Arabia,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  and  some  parts  of 
Africa. 

2.  Gossypium  arboreum — a  tree-cotton  indigenous  to  India. 

3.  Gossypium   barbadcnse — the   Mexican  or  West   Indian 

[94] 


VARIETIES.  95 

cotton  ;  of  which  the  Sea  Island,  New  Orleans  and  Upland 
Georgia  are  varieties.  It  was  long  since  introduced  into  the 
island  of  Bourbon,  and  thence  into  India ;  hence  it  acquired 
the  name  of  Bourbon  cotton. 

4.  Gossypium  Pcruvianum,  or  accuminatum — which  yields 
the  Pernambuco,  Peruvian,  Maranham,  and  Brazilian  cotton  ; 
especially  distinguished  by  its  black  seeds,  which  adhere  firmly 
together.  This  variety  has  long  since  been  introduced  into 
India. 

The  chief  varieties  cultivated  in  the  United  States,  are  the 
black  seed  or  Sea  Island,  (G.  arboremn,)  known  also  by  the 
name  of  "long  staple,"  from  its  fine,  white,  silky  appearance 
and  long  fibres;  the  green  seed,  (G.  7icrbaceum,}  called  the 
"  short  staple,"  from  its  shorter  white  staple,  with  greun  seeds, 
and  commercially  known  by'the  name  of  Upland  cotton ;  and 
two  kinds  of  Nankin  or  Yellow,  (G.  barbadense,)  the  Mexi- 
can and  Petit  Gulf.— (Pat.  Of.  Rep.  for  '53,  Ag.  Dep.  179.) 


SECTION   II. — THE   COTTON   PLANT — "  SEA   ISLAND"   COTTON. 

From  the  Southern  Cultivator. 

THERE  are  various  statements  in  regard  to  the  number  ot 
species  of  the  cotton  plant.  Some  authors  assert  that  there 
are  not  more  than  eight,  while  others  affirm  that  there  are 
upwards  of  a  hundred ;  and  indeed  that  there  is  no  end  to 
them.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  anything  certain  is  known 
about  the  matter,  botanists  never  having  taken  the  trouble  to 
cultivate  a  great  variety  of  them  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
difference  between  the  several  kinds.  We  believe,  however, 
that  attempts  have  been  made  to  do  this  to  some  extent  in 
Jamaica,  Trinidad  and  St.  Vincent's,  where  the  various  plants 


96  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

of  the  numerous  regions  where  the  cotton  shrub  is  found, 
have  been  grown  side  by  side  in  private  gardens,  on  planta- 
tions, and  in  botanical  collections.  Of  these,  the  •  garden  in 
Trinidad  alone  remains,  and  we  are  not  aware  that  any  great 
advantage  has  been  derived  from  that.  This  much,  however, 
we  know,  that  the  several  species  differ  materially  in  appear- 
ance, varying  from  four  or  five,  to  fifteen  or  sixteen  feet  high. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  plant  was  well  known  in  ancient 
times  ;  but  at  what  period  it  was  introduced  into  America,  we 
are  not  precisely  informed.  The  Sea  Island  cotton  is  the 
produce  of  a  plant  that  seems  to  have  been  first  carried  to  the 
Bahamas  from  the  island  of  Anquilla,  (whither  it  is  believed 
to  have  been  transported  from  Persia,)  and  was  sent  to  Geor- 
gia in  1786.  But  there  is  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the 
cotton  plant  in  America  long  before  there  was  any  direct  com- 
munication between  the  civilized  world  and  the  two  great 
portions  of  this  continent ;  and  it  is  a  well-authenticated  fact 
that  the  Spaniards  found  cotton  cloth,  or  calico,  a  common 
article  of  dress  among  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico,  upon  their 
first  invasion  of  that  country.  Calico  obtained  its  name  from 
Calicat — an  insignificant  town  in  India,  where  it  was  probably 
first  made.  It  was  an  article  too  expensive  to  be  purchased 
by  the  laboring  classes,  on  its  first  introduction  into  England ; 
and  it  was  little  imagined,  in  the  early  days  of  its  manufac- 
ture, how  wonderfully  it  was  destined  to  alter  the  whole  face 
of  commerce  and  society,  and  become  the  great  staple  com- 
modity of  the  western  hemisphere. 

In  China,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  employed  to  con- 
stitute articles  of  dress  before  the  thirteenth  century.  In 
Spain,  it  is  believed  that  the  Moors  employed  the  filaments 
of  cotton  for  weaving  cloth  in  the  tenth  century  ;  but  the 
quarrels  between  the  Mohammedans  and  the  Christians  kept 
the  rest  of  Europe  in  ignorance  of  its  manufacture  for  many 


VARIETIES.  97 

ages.  Italy  was  the  first  to  adopt  it,  and  when  the  genius  of 
Arkwright,  Hargreaves  and  Cartwright  had  invented  the 
proper  machinery,  England  turned  her  attention  to  it  in 
earnest,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  the  growth  and  manufacture 
of  cotton,  which  has  since  been  constantly  on  the  increase. 

The  cotton  used  for  manufacturing  purposes  is  distinguished 
by  the  length  and  shortness,  the  silkiness  and  coarseness,  and 
the  strength  and  weakness  of  its  several  filaments.  Some 
species  of  the  plant  thrive  best  where  they  can  have  the  ben- 
efit of  the  sea  air,  and  the  produce  is  fine  in  proportion  to 
their  nearness  or  distance  from  the  coast.  Others,  again, 
require  the  interior  of  the  country.  In  dry  climates,  as  on  the 
mountain-bound  shores  of  Brazil,  the  best  plants  are  met  with 
on  the  coast ;  while  in  damp  climates,  like  that  of  Pernam- 
buco,  the  most  valuable  cotton  is  obtained  from  the  interior. 

But,  whether  seen  bordering  the  lofty  acclivities  of  the 
Andes,  with  the  wide  Pacific  heaving  its  boundless  waves  to 
a  limitless  horizon,  beneath  a  sky  of  more  than  Italian  azure, 
or  met  with  in  the  broad,  rich  valleys  and  on  the  sunny  up- 
lands of  our  own  beloved  country,  a  field  of  cotton  in  full 
bloom,  with  its  dark  green  leaves  and  snowy  pods,  (with  here 
and  there  a  magnificent  magnolia  or  a  noble  pine,  rearing  its 
lofty  head  into  the  air),  is  a  beautiful  sight,  more  especially  in 
the  "  picking  season,"  when  hosts  of  busy  hands  are  gathering 
the  valuable  produce,  and  preparing  it  to  enrich  and  comfort 
the  inhabitants  of  our  own  and  far  distant  lands. 

The  finest  and  best  kind,  is  grown  on  the  low  sandy  islands 
off  the  coasts  of  Georgia,  Florida  and  South  Carolina.  It  is 
sometimes  called  "  Hack  seed  cotton,"  from  the  seed  contained 
in  the  pods  being  black  ;  while  the  seeds  of  the  staple  cotton 
is  called  the  "  green  seed  cotton/'  for  a  similar  reason.  The 
"  staple,"  or  filament  of  Sea  Island  cotton  is  exceedingly  long, 
silken  and  delicate  ;  and  it  commands  a  high  price  in  market-*? 
5 


98 

more  than  double  that  of  the  short  staple.  Great  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  the  latter  by  assiduous  and  careful 
cultivators,  by  the  selection  of  seed ;  and  its  culture  on  fair 
lands  not  exhausted  by  a  ruinous  system  of  tillage,  is  believed 
to  be  far  more  profitable  than  the  culture  of  Sea  Island,  owing 
to  its  superior  yield  and  the  facility  with  which  i*  may  be 
ginned  and  prepared  for  market.  D.  H. 


SECTION   III. — COTTON   SEED. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — I  am  fully  aware  that  many  of  my  agricul- 
tural brethren  will  think  I  am  actuated  by  sordid  motives, 
while  others  will  think  I  am  fostering  what  is  truly  humbug- 
gery, — sales  of  cotton  seed  or  anything  else  at  exorbitant  rates. 
Should  we  all  be  so  fearful  of  censure,  as  to  advance  nothing 
but  what  is  received  as  known  by  the  vast  body  of  agricul- 
turists, we  would  always  travel  in  a  circle.  I  will,  therefore, 
venture  to  give  my  opinions  on  the  subject  of  cotton  seed. 

To  be  able  to  produce  for  sale  two  millions  of  bales,  we 
must  cultivate  full  2,500,000  acres  to  cotton.  Suppose  we 
could,  by  dint  of  improved  seed,  increase  the  per  acre  yield, 
or  the  per  hundred  turn-out  of  lint  only  a  few  cents  per  acre, 
the  gain  would  be  immense.  But  suppose  we  could  increase 
every  one-hundred  acre  planter's  yield  100  Ibs.  of  cotton  per 
acre,  we  would  add  to  his  income  a  clear  gain  of  $100  to  $200. 
Is  this  possible  ?  I  answer,  afte  rtrying  to  improve  seed  for 
about  fifteen  years,  that  I  believe  we  can. 

Improved  cotton  seed  attracted  public  attention  in  this 
country,  near  on  to  thirty  years  ago ;  and  I  well  bear  in  mind 
when  Hollingshed  cotton  seed  sold  in  Carolina.  They  were 
nothing  else  but  Mexican  seeds ;  and  nearly  all  the  improved 


COTTON  SEED.  09 

seeds  are  of  that  kind.  Why  planters  will  hesitate  to  use  the 
improved  seeds,  when  they  use  improved  cattle,  horses,  hogs, 
sheep,  poultry,  fruit,  &c.,  &c.,  is  more  than  I  can  understand. 
Will  any  one  hesitate  to  admit  that  there  is  a  vast  gain  by 
planting  one  kind  of  corn  over  another  ?  Yet  the  improve- 
ment in  cotton  seed  is  fully  equal.  That  humbugging  has 
been  practised  in  cotton  seed,  as  well  as  in  sheep,  morus  mul- 
ticaulis,  hogs,  &c.,  I  know,  and  yet  I  believe  good  has  been 
done.  Large  prices  induce  attention  to  be  directed  to  the  pro- 
duction of  choice  seed.  Many  persons  rate  cotton  seed,  as 
manure,  and  as  food,  to  be  worth  sixteen  cents  per  bushel.  I 
have  known  ninety-eight  bushels  of  corn  grown  with,  say  250 
bushels  of  cotton  seed,  there  being  full  one-half  the  value  left 
in  the  soil,  where  not  over  fifty  could,  or  ever  did  grow  with- 
out the  seed ;  this  is  rating  cotton  seed  at  twenty  cents  or 
more.  Who  would  go  to  the  trouble  of  making  seed  for  sale 
at  a  profit  over  this  of  a  few  cents  when  thereby  he  is  in- 
juring his  land  ?  It  may  be  said,  all  can  improve  ?  Granted. 
But  can  all  improve  seed  as  cheap  as  they  can  buy.  I  do  not 
believe  they  can,  because  the  man  'who  can  sell  $500  or 
$1000  worth,  can  bear  extra  labor  and  expense.  I  know 
that  extra  labor  and  expense,  of  course,  must  be  borne 
to  make  seeds  that  are  the  best  to  plant.  If  seeds  are  not 
thoroughly  cured,  they  are  injured  by  transportation,  by 
being  in  a  large  pile.  All  of  my  seeds  are  sunned  after  gin- 
ning, and  a  hand  does  nothing  else  but  attend  to  them.  Even 
if  a  hand  can  stir  up  and  attend  to  500  bushels  per  day,  there 
is  scaffolding,  and  house-room,  and  attention,  and  no  man  is 
willing  to  do  this  for  nothing.  A  bushel  will  plant  two  acres 
of  land.  I  have  planted  this  year  forty  to  sixty  acres  thus, 
and  plant  every  year,  more  or  less  acres  thus — even  at  $1  per 
bushel,  the  seed  only  costs  fifty  cents  per  acre,  and  if  the 
gain  be  only  ten  pounds  of  cotton,  the  planter  makes  a  great 


100  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

per  cent.,  Laving  the  next  year's  seed  to  plant  oth%r  acres, 
say,  at  least  twenty  acres  for  every  original  acre. 

The  seed  mostly  relied  on  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  are 
Mexican  seed,  known  in  Carolina  and  Georgia  as  Petit  Gulf 
seed,  because  there  planted  and  improved.  In  the  hills 
around  Rodney,  Miss.,  the  improvement  began,  and  there 
are  just  as  good  seed  at  present  elsewhere,  as  there  is  now 
near  Rodney.  We  plant  Sugar  Loaf,  or  Prolific,  Lewis' 
Prolific,  Vicks'  100-seed,  Guatemala,  a  seed  not  of  Mexican 
origin,  Brown  seed,  and  others.  Except  the  Guatemala,  they 
are  all,  I  believe,  mere  selections  from  the  Mexican. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  affirm  that  any  of  these  seeds  will  pro- 
duce, in  quality  or  quantity,  so  much  greater  than  seed  usually 
cultivated  in  the  interior  of  Mississippi,  in  Alabama,  Georgia, 
or  Carolina,  as  to  warrant  the  planter  in  giving  such  rates  as 
$3  or  $5  per  bushel !  The  grower  of  the  seed  deserves  a  por- 
tion of  the  increased  value,  but  the  planter  (purchaser),  also 
deserves  a  fair  portion,  and  the  greater.  I  know  from  repeat- 
ed trials,  that  good  seed  will  produce,  say  as  six  to  seven, 
that  is,  an  acre  which  would  produce  600  Ibs.,  with  ordi- 
nary seed,  has  produced  here  700  Ibs.  And  I  know  of 
planters  who  will  not  buy  seeds,  yet  will  haul  them  twenty  to 
thirty  miles,  if  given  to  them,  clearly  showing  their  real 
opinion  of  the  advantage  derivable.  I  believe  the  yield  is 
greater  over  common  seed.  I  sincerely  believe  I  have  laid 
out  75  cents  for  a  bushel  of  seed,  and  made  more  thereby  than 
any  other  investment ;  and  I  think  by  buying  seed  to  plant, 
say  one-fifth  of  one's  crop  yearly,  that  any  planter  will  make 
thereby ;  I  mean  where  seeds  are  used  for  ten  years  or  so,  of 
any  one  kind,  of  the  ordinary  kinds.  A  planter  who  plants 
100  acres,  may  buy  seed  for  twenty  acres,  say  ten  bushels,  at 
$1  per  year,  and  make  a  better  investment  than  buying  a 
negro  fellow  at  $500.  Some  high-strung  planters  believe  it 


SUGAR  LOAF   COTTON.  101 

is  a  departure  from  ancient  custom  to  sell  seed ;  so  it  may  be, 
but  if  there  is  a  real  gain  to  the  public,  the  man  who  adds  to 
that  gain,  is  a  public  benefactor,  whether  he  is  reported  to  be 
a  regular  planter,  or  a  mere  huckster  of  seed.  I  have  given 
away  more  of  these  gains  to  the  public  than  any  high  set 
planter  in  the  South  ;  and  as  I  make  neither  credit  nor  glory, 
nor  cash,  from  such  drones,  I  am  very  content  to  receive  their 
obloquy.  I  may  err,  but  it  takes  two  people  to  be  in  error, 
ere  I  can  inflict  an  evil ;  and  whilst  I  think  my  country  can 
be  a  gainer  by  sales  of  seeds  or  chips,  of  anything,  I  will  urge 
the  matter,  and  only  ask  a  trial. 

Edwards,  Miss.,  April,  1848.  M.    W.   PHILIPS. 


SECTION  IV. — SUGAR  LOAF   COTTON. 

MR.  EDITOR: — I  beg  to  call  the  attention  of  the  planting 
interest  to  the  early  maturity  and  the  productiveness  of  the 
cotton  called  in  Mississippi,  Sugar  Loaf  and  Prolific.  I  do 
so  at  this  present  time,  that  all  may  be  able  to  obtain  reliable 
facts,  in  season  for  the  next  planting.  From  my  present 
knowledge,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend  it  warmly  for  the 
above  valuable  considerations.  I  have  planted  it  only  in 
1847  and  '48,  and  have  no  more  personal  experience  than  the 
yield  of  one  crop,  and  the  present  prospect.  I  do  not  promise 
for  it  the  great  yield  that  the  seller  of  the  Mastodon  seed  did 
for  that  seed,  nor  the  yield  that  was  promised  from  the 
Turin  and  Okra  cotton  ;  but  I  do  say,  that  I  believe  it  will 
pay  the  planter,  even  if  his  seeding  costs  him  $1  per  acre 
More  than  this,  I  leave  others  to  say. 

This  day,  being  called  into  my  field,  south  of  my  pasture, 
and  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  another  field  in 
cultivation,  where  I  have  my  selected  Sugar  Loaf  seed  planted, 


102  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

I  was  so  forcibly  struck  with  the  prospect,  that  I  conceive  it 
my  duty  to  draw  attention  thereto.  I  saw  repeatedly  limbs, 
with  six,  eight,  ten  and  twelve  bolls  and  forms,  which  were 
not  that  many  inches  long,  I  could  span  so  as  to  touch  ten 
without  any  exertion.  I  have  forty  acres  planted  to  the 
Sugar  Loaf  seed,  and  think  I  reasonably  calculate,  from  pres- 
ent appearance,  on  fifty  bales,  and  I  don't  think  any  other 
forty  acres  of  Petit  Gulf  seed,  promises  forty  bales.  My  seed 
have  been  planted  remote  from  others  for  these  two  years,  they 
were  selected  from  the  field  by  myself  and  an  old  negro  woman  ; 
yet,  I  find  a  great  tendency  to  run  back,  and  which  can  only 
be  guarded  against  by  careful  yearly  selection. 

.  I  have  many  friends  who  are  planting  it,  and  they  pro- 
nounce two  weeks  earlier  in  maturity,  a  great  gain  when  the 
army-worm  is  expected. 

The  picking  qualities.  I  can  pick  200  Ibs.  per  day,  easier 
than  from  ordinary  Mexican.  (We  term  the  improved  cotton 
Mexican,  which  is  known  in  Carolina  and  Georgia  as  Petit 
Gulf,  because  everybody  who  sells  seed,  marks  his  bags  Petit 
Gulf,  the  first  improved  seed  emanating  from  that  section.) 
I  can  gather  150  Ibs.  This  was  the  fact  last  fall. 

Those  who  are  skeptical  will  consult  their  own  interest  by 
writing  to  friends  in  Mississippi,  where  the  seeds  are  well 
known.  There  are  a  great  many  here  who  are  now  planting 
the  seed,  and  as  they  do  not  sell  seed,  and  are  too  proud  to 
advertise,  no  doubt  but  that  their  evidence  will  be  good. 

The  seeds  I  have,  were  presented  to  me  by  Mr.  Farmer, 
living  in  Yallobusha  County,  I  think.  He  was  the  first  in 
this  country  to  call  attention  to  the  seed  some  four  years  ago. 
They  are  no  discovery  of  mine,  nor  have  I  improved  them.  I 
only  claim  calling  your  attention  to  what  I  believe  will 
benefit  you,  sir. 

I  believe  the  seed  that  Dr.  Cloud  plants  to  be  no  other  than 


IMPROVED    COTTON   SEED.  103 

this  same  varietv  of  the  Mexican ;  and  if  so,  by  carefully  se- 
lecting and  keeping  as. pure  as  possible,  he  will  do  as  much 
good  by  selling  them  at  $1  per  bushel,  as  he  has  done  by  call- 
ing attention  to  manuring,  and  I  believe  he  has  done  more 
good  to  many  sections  of  the  cotton-growing  region,  than  all 
other  writers  together.  It  is  necessary  that  one  should  be  very 
zealous  in  a  cause  to  get  attention,  and  I  hope  all  growlers 
will  confine  themselves  to  the  growl,  while  we  doctors,  (hum- 
bugs, if  one  of  the  savans  desire  the  name,)  are  allowed  to 
keep  in  sight  of  facts,  even  if  at  a  distance. 

I  am  sincerely  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  improved  agriculture. 

Edwards,  Miss.,  July,  1848.  M.    W.    PHILIPS. 


SECTION   V. — IMPROVED    COTTON   SEED. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — I  have  received  and  answered  about  twenty 
letters  in  relation  to  cotton  seed ;  and  as  those  letters  are  en- 
tirely from  your  subscribers — and,  by-the-by,  the  postage  al- 
ways paid,  too — I  beg  a  corner  in  your  right  worthy  paper, 
that  I  may  save  all  trouble  by  those  who  desire  cotton  seed. 

I  will  add  some  remarks  about  the  various  improved  seeds 
grown  in  this  section,  and  make  it  my  endeavor  to  fairly  state 
my  opinion  of  them.  I  beg,  also,  to  say,  that  I  will  very 
cheerfully  purchase  any  kind  of  seed  desired  by  your  subscri- 
bers, charging  only  what  I  give ;  and  should  it  be  necessary 
to  incur  any  expense  in  selecting,  I  will  divide  expenses  be- 
tween the  parties  ordering.  I  mean  by  this  not  to  force  any 
one  to  take  my  seed,  unless  they  are  satisfied,  and  yet  am 
anxious  that  all  should  have  the  benefit  of  improved  seed.  I 
will  pledge  my  good  pen,  to  show  in  this  country  as  great  an 
improvement  in  the  quantity  or  in  the  quality,  and  in  the  pick- 


104  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

ing  qualities,  as  could  be  reasonably  expected  ;  but,  in  some  in- 
stances, the  price  of  seed  is  too  high.  My  personal  friends  have 
the  seed  for  sale.  I  do  not  disparage  the  seed,  but  I  deem  one 
dollar  per  bushel,  at  the  gin,  to  be  a  remunerating  price,  and 
at  that  any  planter  can  afford  to  buy  a  few.  I  would  advise 
no  one  to  buy  many  until  he  has  proved  them.  I  have  labored 
too  long  and  too  earnestly,  to  help  my  native  South,  to  now 
risk  all  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  few  dimes.  I  do  not  offer 
my  seeds  as  being  the  best,  nor  as  yielding  two  and  three  bales 
per  acre.  I  only  pronounce  them  as  being  very  carefully 
sunned,  both  before  and  after  ginning,  and  to  be  seed  from  the 
best  I  could  procure.  They  yield  well  here  ;  I  say  not  what 
they  may  do  in  Carolina  or  Georgia.  I  could  name  friends  in 
both  States  who  have  planted  my  seed,  and  who  write  me 
very  favorable  accounts.  I  do  not  desire  any  puffing  of  my 
wares,  lest  I  may  be  again  blamed.  And  in  this  matter  I 
claim  to  be  useful,  in  offering  an  article  that  is  needed,  and, 
if  I  am  not  in  error,  an  article  that  will  benefit  the  purchaser 
more  than  the  seller. 

I  charge,  in  all  instances,  to  home  folks  or  to  strangers,  as 
follows  :  Petit  Gulf,  or  Mexican,  generally  known  here  as  the 
latter,  fifty  cents ;  Sugar  Loaf,  from  seed  carefully  selected 
under  my  own  eye,  $1 ;  Vick's  100-seed,  $1. 

When  I  send  off,  I  put  in  five  bushel  sacks,  made  of  Lowell 
goods,  costing  me  twelve  and  a-half  cents,  the  sacks  to  weigh 
125  Ibs.  or  over,  if  I  wish,  and  charge  fifty  cents  per  sack,  for 
the  sack  and  hauling  to  Edwards'  depot.  Col.  Vick  charges 
$2.  I  did  not  learn  this  until  I  had  fixed  my  rates ;  and  I 
have  too  few  to  affect  him,  who  kindly  presented  me  with  my 
start. 

The  Petit  Gulf  seeds  are  only  Mexican  seed,  acclimated  and 
selected.  When  these  seeds  obtained  their  first  celebritj^,  it 
was  usual  to  select  seeds  from  the  pile,  for  their  white  color 


IMPROVED  COTTON  SEED.  105 

and  small  size.     Latterly,  we  pay  more  attention  to  the  pro- 
duction, quality  of  lint,  and  picking  qualities. 

To  Col.  Henry  W.  Vick  is,  therefore,  due  the  credit  of  first, 
scientifically,  with  great  personal  labor,  perseverance  and  skill, 
making  the  proper  selection.  We  regard  these  as  a  very  de- 
cided improvement,  and  his  selling  at  $10,  for  two  years, 
proves  such  to  he  the  fact.  I  have  planted  them  two  years, 
and  will  plant  one-half  my  next  crop  with  them. 

The  Sugar  Loaf  was  introduced  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Farmer, 
Last  Chance,  Miss.,  from  whence  I  know  not.  Two  years 
ago,  he  kindly  gave  me  two  bushels.  I  planted  them  on  four 
acres — the  product,  early  maturity  and  extraordinary  picking 
qualities,  pleased  me  so  much  that  I  took  my  most  careful 
hand,  and  together  we  selected  enough  to  plant  near  twenty 
acres.  It  is  this  seed  I  offer.  There  are  many  planters 
who  put  the  gain  at  fifty,  seventy-five,  and  even  one  hundred 
per  cent.  I  do  not  promise  that  much.  Having  fairly  tested 
it,  I  place  it,  say  two  to  four  cwt.  more  per  acre  on  rich  land, 
and  enough  to  warrant  a  trial. 

The  Brown  seed  is  said,  by  its  friends,  to  excel  the  Sugar 
Loaf  in  all  its  good  qualities.  It  originated  in  Copiah  County, 
I  learn. 

The  Tarver  seed,  from  Alabama,  is  greatly  praised  there. 
These  three  latter  seeds  I  planted  side  by  side,  and  I  will  hold 
to  the  first ;  and,  as  I  have  no  prejudice  to  uphold,  I  presume 
I  am  correct  in  my  judgment.  How  these  latter  sell  I  know 
not.  I  learn  that  Sugar  Loaf  sold  at  $1.50  last  year. 

Hogan  seeds  were  introduced  into  Mississippi  by  Mr.  Wm. 
Hogan,  who  lives  a  few  miles  from  me.  I  saw  his  field,  of 
some  fifteen  acres,  and  was  so  well  pleased  that  I  purchased 
one  bushel  for  myself,  and  two  and  a-half  for  my  friends,  at 
$10  per  bushel  of  twenty-five  Ibs.  As  a  special  favor,  I  was 
allowed  the  seed  cotton,  selected  from  special  stalks,  and  for 
5* 


106  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

the  purpose  of  testing  the  yield  of  lint.  September  picking 
gave,  viz. :  116  Ibs.  yielded  thirty-six  Ibs.  of  lint,  or  a  trifle 
over  thirty-one  per  cent.,  the  largest  yield  I  ever  found,  and  I 
have  been  thus  testing  all  cotton  for  many  years.  His  price 
is  $10. 

Banana  cotton,  introduced  by  my  friend,  Col.  Hebrun,  of 
Warren  County.  I  saw  his  cotton  and  his  book.  I  also  saw 
a  piece  of  the  same,  owned  by  Dr.  E.  Bryan,  his  neighbor. 
Two  other  gentlemen,  with  the  above,  Mr.  Cook  and  Mr.  Gib- 
son, being  the  only  growers  at  present.  Of  these  two  last 
kinds  I  know  the  history,  but  am  not  at  liberty  to  say  more, 
than  that  the  production  exceeds  anything  I  have  ever  seen. 
The  Banana  seeds  are  held  at  $100  per  bushel,  and  no  less 
than  a  peck  can  be  sold  by  written  agreement. 

Pitt's  Prolific  I  never  saw,  but  am  told  by  its  friends,  that 
that  seed  will  be  planted,  and  a  wager  put  up,  that  the  pro- 
duct shall  exceed  any  of  the  above.  The  price,  and  where  to 
be  obtained,  I  am  ignorant  of,  but  in  another  year  I  will  have 
tested,  and  can  report. 

I  saw  three  acres  of  the  Hogan  seed  at  Judge  Pearce  No- 
land's,  a  large  planter  near  me,  and  the  planter  who  gave  to 
the  Petit  Gulf  its  deserved  notoriety.  The  Judge's  account 
of  what  he  picked,  warrants  me  to  say  to  any  one  who  regards 
any  improvement  in  cotton  seed  as  a  humbug,  that  he  can  be 
well  paid  for  his  year's  labor  and  time,  if  he  will  send  a  few 
dimes  out,  and  superintend  the  culture  and  picking ;  that  is, 
if  he  is  right.  In  other  words,  I  think  he  can  get  a  very  snug 
crop  for  doing  nothing,  but  to  see  there  is  no  cheating  him. 
But  let  me  caution  him,  lest  he  may  lose  a  crop ;  for  some  of 
this  seed  will  certainly  produce  two  to  five,  or  may  be  ten 
cwt.  more  per  acre,  side  by  side,  than  the  best  Mexican  yet 
grown  and  not  improved  by  selection — or  than  any  other  seed 
not  here  named. 


IMPROVED    COTTON   SEED.  107 

I  hope  the  above  may  do  some  good,  if  no  other  but  to  in- 
cite your  readers  to  a  closer  attention  in  improving  their  seed. 
My  remarks  are  open  for  examination,.  I  give,  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  what  I  think  is  true ;  and,  as  I  have  not  $500 
worth  of  seed  saved  here  for  sale,  and  not  $1000  for  the  two 
past  years,  I  earnestly  beg  that  the  liberal  of  my  profession — 
agriculture — will  not  attach  to  me  any  desire  to  humbug  ; 
$1200  is  too  small  a  bait — and  I  hope,  by  giving  satisfaction 
with  these  few  seeds,  to  open  a  yearly  mart  for  $500.  There- 
fore, I  would  not  kill  or  injure  the  goose — the  rather  I  would 
feed  her  high — with  good  weights  and  sound  seed. 

Excuse  the  great  length,  but,  if  I  am  right,  the  public  ad- 
vantage will  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for 

Edwards,  Miss.,  Nov.,  1848.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION  VI. — IMPROVED    COTTON   SEED. 
> 

MR.  EDITOR  : — Having  already  received  inquiries  concerning 
cotton  seed,  I  beg  again  that  you  will  favor  me  with  inserting 
my  reply.  It  will  save  your  subscribers  some  writing,  and 
myself  a  great  deal.  I  have  had  more  or  less  to  do  with  a 
printing-office  for  several  years,  and  I  have  had  advertisements 
slided  on  me  as  communications.  I  do  not  do  this;  I  send  this 
forth  as  an  advertisement.  It  will  aid  me  greatly,  and  will 
aid  your  subscribers  a  little — probably  as  much  as  myself. 

I  will  be  prepared  to  fill  orders  to  a  limited  extent,  but  will 
not  reserve  as  much  seed  as  I  did  last  year,  unless  orders  come 
in  before  Nov.  1.  I  will  record  orders  as  received.  All  seed 
sent  from  here  shall  be  thoroughly  sunned  before  and  after 
ginning,  and  well  cured  before  being  put  into  bulk.  My  charge 


108  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

will  be  invariably  $1  per  bushel  of  25  Ibs.,  10  cents  per  bushel 
for  the  sacks  and  hauling  to  depot.  No  seed  will  be  reserved 
except  from  cotton  picked  in  September  and  October. 

Now  as  to  varieties  : 

The  Sugar  Loaf  Seed  will  be  from  the  second  year's  selec- 
tion. Sugar  Loaf  is  regarded,  by  every  neighbor  I  have,  as 
being  the  best  seed  yet  planted  by  them.  I  have  heard  the 
opinion  of  a  majority  of  them.  With  me  they  prove,  on  rich 
land,  the  very  best. 

Vick's  WO- Seed  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best 
selection  from  the  Mexican  or  Petit  Gulf,  ever  planted  in  Mis- 
sissippi. Col.  Yick  sold  his,  the  present  year,  at  $1.50  per 
50  bushels,  or  over,  and  $2  for  any  quantity  under. 

Brown's  Seed  is,  in  my  opinion,  identical  with  the  Tarver 
Seed  of  Alabama,  and  very  much  like  Sugar  Loaf;  bolls  more 
pointed ;  not  so  prolific  or  so  easy  to  pick. 

Pitt's  Prolific,  I  have  growing  this  year,  for  the  first.  For 
me  it  does  not  well,  and  does  not  seem  to  be  established ;  some 
stalks  are  good,  some  excellent,  others  so-so. 

Hogans. — I  have  eight  acres  to  itself,  no  other  seed  planted ; 
besides  two  other  patches  replanted  with  other  seed.  I  shall 
only  reserve  from  the  first.  I  am  not  so  highly  pleased  as  last 
year,  but  there  is  great  allowance  to  be  made :  I  had  to  replant 
twice,  not  cleaned  out  until  May,  and  the  land  was  in  part  too 
level — a  good  part  of  the  land  so  level  that  cotton  was  almost 
drained  out. 

Banana,  from  seeing  and  feeling,  I  pronounce  identical  to 
the  above. 

Prout,  the  same,  I  might  say,  as  I  can  show  both  kinds  in 
same  field. 

Chester,  I  might  say  as  for  Banana. 

Pomegranate,  I  believe  to  be  identical :  never  heard  of  it 
until  I  saw  a  notice  from  a  Mobile  paper,  though  Gen.  Mitchell 


BANANA   COTTON  SEED.  109 

lives  not  far  from  me ;  and  never  heard  of  it  since,  except 
through  distant  papers. 

For  the  information  of  some,  Banana  was  not  planted  in 
Warren  County,  Miss.,  before  1848,  and  was  then  planted  by 
four  gentlemen — Messrs.  Hebrun,  Bryant,  Cook,  and  Gibson. 

Multibolus. — I  have  some  100  stalks,  and  some  of  them  ex- 
ceed anything  I  have  seen.  The  introducer  promises  the  yield 
of  lint  to  be  some  forty  per  cent.  It  is  good  certainly  thus  far. 

Rob  Smith's  25-ccnts  is  very  prolific  indeed,  with  long  tor- 
tuous limbs,  leaves  silky,  bolls  slim.  I  have  but  little. 

Mammoth — Also  from  my  friend  Smith  :  very  large  bolls, 
and  quite  prolific. 

Any  farther  information  will  be  cheerfully  given. 

I  advise  early  application,  as  I  am  determined  to  sell  only 
the  best,  and  not  to  reserve  many.  Orders  must  be  accompa- 
nied with  the  cash,  or  some  certain  means.  Payment  first  of 
January  will  be  time  enough,  but  it  must  be  certain. 

To  merchants  ordering  say  500  bushels,  I  will  deliver  at 
depot  for  $1,  so  that  planters  can  buy  at  my  price,  and  yet 
ten  per  cent,  be  realized. 

I  shall  plant  nothing  but  selected  seed ;  thus  planters  may 
reasonably  expect  the  purest  seed,  according  to  my  judgment. 

With  great  respect,  I  am  yours,  &c., 
Edwards,  Miss.,  August,  1849.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION  VII. — BANANA   COTTON  SEED. 

From  the  Southern  Cultivator 

MR.  EDITOR  : — My  remarks  as  to  the  above  variety  of  cotton 
seed,  as  published  in  the  Cultivator  for  last  November,  have 
been  deemed  by  some  persons  of  my  acquaintance,  as  having 


110 

emanated  from  a  desire  to  put  down  other  seed,  that  I  might 
sell.  To  such,  I  have  no  reply. 

Duty  to  the  growers  of  said  seed,  requires  of  me  to  say 
what  was  the  fact,  and  to  place  the  error  where  due.  Under- 
stand me.  Col.  John  Hebrun  and  Mr.  David  Gibson,  of  War- 
ren County,  Miss.,  are  personally  on  the  very  best  terms — 
they  are  the  principal  growers.  There  is  no  issue  between 
us,  as  they  know  my  motives  and  the  facts. 

The  Banana  seed  of  October,  1848,  I  saw.  I  culled  a  few 
seeds,  and  planted  in  1849.  I  pronounced  them  identical 
with  Hogan,  and  they  were.  Mr.  David  Gibson  had  procured 
a  variety  of  seed — not  from  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  or  Ala- 
bama— and  in  his  judgment  they  proved,  planted  side  by  side, 
to  be  superior  to  the  then  Banana ;  and  knowing  the  sale  of  the 
said  seed  would  be  ended  with  the  one  year's  growth,  he  re- 
fused to  join  in  sales,  but  proposed  to  supply  his  new  seed. 
Thus  was  a  cotton  which  I  never  saw  until  ten  days  or  so  ago, 
sold  as  the,  Banana.  Was  I  to  blame?  I  did  deem  the  offer- 
ing of  a  seed  by  a  new  name,  for  a  large  price,  a  wrong;  and 
I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  expose.  I  did  so,  and  will  do  it 
again. 

As  to  the  present  Banana,  I  saw  the  field  from  which  forty- 
five  bales  were  gathered.  Mr.  David  Gibson  is  practically 
conversant  with  surveyor's  implements,  he  is  a  correct  man, 
he  assures  me  there  are  thirty-eight  and  a-half  acres,  measured. 
The  growth  and  appearance  is  very  similar  to  the  Hogan, 
and  I  doubt  not,  had  the  same  primary  parentage,  but  the 
Hogan  was  taken  to  Alabama,  thence  to  Warren — the  Banana, 
directly  to  the  hills  of  Warren,  eminently  inducive  to  short 
joints,  yield  and  quality  of  lint.  Mr.  Gibson  will  procure  for 
me  a  daguerreotype  of  two  branches  I  saw  at  his  house,  which 
will  be  sent  to  you  to  copy  in  your  Journal.  It  will  be  done 
at  my  request,  supposing  it  would  be  ornamental,  and  serve 


SILK   COTTON.  Ill 

to  show  how  the  cotton  can  grow.  Letters  written  to  David 
Gibson,  will  he  attended  to.  I  trust  this  act  of  justice  will 
not  be  misunderstood,  I  am  sure  the  seed  will  be  an  acqui- 
sition, and  as  to  price,  every  man  has  the  right  to  charge 
what  he  pleases — purchasers  to  pay,  or  not. 

Yours,  with  respect, 

Edwards,  Miss.,  Jan.  1850.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION   VIII. — SILK   COTTON. 

From  the  Southern  Cultivator. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — Your  last  Number  is  mislaid  by  some  one, 
though  in  the  house.  I  therefore  cannot  refer  to  the  page  on 
which  my  friend,  J.  V.  J.,  in  alluding  to  the  seed  I  sent  him, 
gives  me  credit  for  more  than  I  deserve.  I  beg  to  allude 
thereto.  First — I  object  to  the  name  Early  Sugar  Loaf.  I 
detest  multiplying  names.  I  received  the  seed  from  Mr. 
Farmer,  Hard  Times,  Miss.,  as  a  present.  I  have  selected 
from  the  field  for  four  years.  Those  I  sent  J.  V.  J.  were  of 
the  third  year's  selection,  and  such  seed  as  I  never  sell,  ex- 
cept in  very  small  parcels,  and  then  to  my  favored  few :  be- 
cause I  cannot  be  paid  for  doing  it,  and  I  only  select  some  ten 
or  fifteen  bushels  yearly — with  these  I  plant  twenty  to  thirty 
acres — from  those  I  select  the  ensuing  year,  and  from  no 
others.  I  still  call  mine  Sugar  Loaf,  and  sometimes  Select 
Sugar  Loaf. 

The  Silk  Cotton  seed  sent  to  J.  V.  J.  was  grown  here,  the 
second  crop  from  seed  sent  me  by  my  friend  Col.  H.  W.  Vick, 
of  Vicksburg.  It  is  not  the  Silk  Cotton  of  the  south-west. 
Let  it  be  understood.  J.  V.  J.  has  probably  the  only  seed 


112  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

now  in  existence.  Col.  Vick  selected  the  seed  from  his 
100-seed,  and  from  the  Mexican,  for  several  years.  He 
projected  with  the  seed,  he  said,  resembling  silk  in  feel,  and 
quit,  I  think.  I  selected  one  year,  and  the  second  selected 
for  J.  V.  J.,  and  had  so  much  to  think  of,  I  cast  all  off 
Therefore,  Col.  Vick  has  the  credit,  and  I  must  not  take  it  to 
myself.  Col.  V.  deserves  more  credit  as  an  observing  planter, 
than  any  man  who  has  dabbled  in  experiments.  He  has 
been  improving  seed  these  fifteen  years.  And  proof — he 
works  fifty  hands,  or  over,  and  made,  the  past  year,  as  bad  as 
it  was,  nine  bales  per  hand  !  Tell  that  to  the  B'hoys  who 
think  there  is  no  virtue  in  improving  seed. 

I  have  required  J.  V.  J.  to  send  me  a  bushel  of  the  seed. 
This  I  will  project  with,  and  return  him  the  progeny,  even 
bettered ;  for  I  assure  you  and  all  others,  that,  in  Warren 
County,  and  a  part  of  Hinds,  we  can  improve  any  seed.  Our 
climate  and  soil,  and  our  attention,  is  something. 

I  will  suggest  to  all  parties  interested,  that  we  name  the 
seed,  (as  the  cotton  is,  beyond  doubt,  distinct,)  Jethro  Seed — 
after  JETHRO,  of  the  Cultivator,  whose  anonymous  contribu- 
tions to  that  periodical  are  considered  among  its  best. 

I  ask  it  of  friend  J.  V.  J.,  and  will  send  him  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  Jethro ;  and,  by-the-by,  I  hope  there  are  many 
others  who  admire  the  writings  of  Jethro,  and  who  miss  him 
as  much  as  does  your  friend. 

And,  by-the-by,  as  I  have  returned  to  my  duty,  I  would 
like  to  see  my  old  companions-in-arms — my  noble  Coke,  caustic 
Broomsedge,  and  others.  Come,  friends  !  let  us,  one  and  all, 
give  a  whole-soul  life  to  the  Cultivator,  this  year.  Our  read- 
ers are  many.  They  are  our  brothers,  of  "our  own,  our 
native  land."  We  are  aiding  the  readers  and  ourselves.  I 
am  the  oldest  man  among  ye,  and  1  hope  you  will  not  leave 
the  load  to  the  "  old  man" — my  nickname,  when  about  twelve 


MULTIFLORA  COTTON — "MONEY  BUSH."  113 

years  old,  and  followed  me  up.  May  our  cause  prosper — may 
our  whole  country  live  together  a  thousand  years,  and  peace 
be  with  ye  all !  Sincerely  yours, 

March,  1850.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION   IX. — MULTIFLORA    COTTON — "MONEY   BUSH." 


MR.  EDITOR  : — The  March  number  of  your  paper  is  just  at 
hand,  and  I  must  needs  thank  you  for  the  high  estimate  you 
place  upon  me.  I  can  assure  you,  I  will  try  to  deserve  your 
encomiums,  and  to  meet  the  expectations  of  my  brethren. 

This  thing  I  say — and  do  not  think  there  is  one  man  from 
Maine  to  Texas  will  think  I  say  falsely — I  love  my  calling 
and  the  progress  of  my  brethren  too  well,  to  designedly  lead 
them  astray.  I  have  no  unkind  feeling  for  man  or  woman, 
that  should  lead  me  to  molest  or  do  injury  ;  nor  have  I  any 
jealousy  of.  other  men  of  high  standing,  that  I  would  wish  to 
lower  them  that  I  might  be  seen. 

I  am  induced  to  make  these  remarks,  because  I  will  fear- 
lessly expose  any  subterfuge  that  may  be  resorted  to  in  the 
way  of  humbugs  or  deceptions.  I  have  learnt  that  some 
rather  strong  remarks  are  made  against  me  in  the  January 
number,  which  I  have  not  seen.  I  will  see  it  as  soon  as  I 
can  procure  a  number,  and  will  reply.  I  fear  no  one,  for  I 
am  determined  to  be  actuated  by  a  higher  motive  than  mere 
words,  or  making  dimes. 

There  is  yet  another  seed  called  Multiflora,  which,  I  am 
informed  by  one  of  the  growers,  was  procured  from  Mr.  Prout, 
of  Alabama,  and  is,  therefore,  the  same  seed  as  the  Hogan, 
Cluster,  &c.,  &c.  Why  not  say,  openly  and  candidly,  that 
the  seeds  are  Hogan,  or  Prout,  or  Cluster,  and  then  ask  their 
$2^-  or  $5  per  bushel  ? — thereby,  any  man  buying  would  un- 


J14 

del-stand  what  they  were  getting.     I  have  the  word  of  a  friend 
who  planted  Money  Bush,  that  it  was  also  the  same  cotton. 

I  put  the  question  to  any  man — how  would  you  like  to  buy, 
at  one,  or  two,  or  three,  or  five  dollars  per  bushel,  the  same 
seed,  from  two  or  three  gentlemen,  under  different  names, 
each  one  declaring  their  cotton  to  be  "  the  best  in  the  world  ?" 
You  would  not  like  it,  of  course.  Then  act  squarely  to  all 
men ;  call  your  seed  right,  and  ask  any  price  you  please. 

M.  TV.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION   X. — VARIETIES   OF    COTTOX   SEED. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — Last  spring  I  received  a  lot,  say  about  one 
hundred  cotton  seed,  from  G.  W.  Mabry,  of  Vernon.  Mississippi, 
called  Multiflora.  I  planted  them  myself,  and  gave  them  two 
workings.  The  product  was  so  good  that  I  saved  all  the  seed. 
The  growth  I  conceived  similar  in  all  respects  to  the  Cluster 
or  Hogan,  &c.,  &c.,  yet  the  seed  were  all  white.  I  learnt 
they  were  procured  from  Carroll.  This  season  I  saw  a  gen- 
tleman from  thence,  who  had  seed  to  sell.  I  inquired  as  to 
the  history,  and  traced  them  through  the  same  Carroll  County 
source,  to  H.  W.  Prout,  and  have  therefore  pronounced  them 
identical  with  the  Cluster.  My  friend,  G.  W.  M.,  says  I  am 
in  error,  as  these  seeds  remain  white,  but  the  Cluster  will  in 
three  or  four  years  run  into  green.  I  state  this,  that  all  sides 
may  have  a  hearing.  I  have  received  this  season  as  a  present : 

Royal  Cluster,  from  R.  TV.  Harris,  Greensboro',  Alabama. 

Golden  Chan0,  from  G.  TV.  Summerville,  Hope,  Alabama. 

Multiflora,  from  TV.  TV.  TVhitehead,  Middleton,  Miss. 

Seed,  second  year  from  Mexico,  from  Jas.  E.  Harrison, 
Aberdeen,  Miss. 

Seed  from  Texas,  I  think,  from  "  Hinds,"  Cayuga,  Miss. 


VARIETIES   OF   COTTON   SEED.  ,      115 

Brown,  from  H.  W.  Griffith,  Hinds  County,  Miss. 

Willow,  from  W.  Montgomery,  Hinds  County,  Miss. 

Selected  Seed,  from  Col.  Jno.  L.  Groom,  Greensboro',  Ala. 

Cotton  Seed  from  China,  from  Patent  Office,  Washington 
City. 

Guinea  Seed,  from  John  A.  Heard,  Hinds  County,  Miss. 

Magnolia,  from  A.  N.  Mayer,  Holley  Springs,  Miss. 

These  seeds  are  each  generally  highly  recommended,  and 
some  of  them  are  spoken  of  in  such  terms  that  I  am  induced 
to  expect  great  things  of  them.  I  will  thus,  with  others  in 
field  culture,  have  some  twelve  or  fifteen  varieties — at  least 
with  different  names — and  will  be  able  to  report  in  the  fall, 
I  have  no  idea  that  all  my  correspondents  can  be  pleased 
with  my  report  for  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  suit  each  kind 
to  land,  unless  my  friends  had  given  me  hints  to  guide  me  in 
the  selection  of  spots  to  suit  each.  But  I  hope  they  will  bear 
in  mind,  that  I  can  have  no  interest,  other  than  in  selecting 
the  very  best,  and  that  no  one  locality  will  suit  every  variety. 
I  will  illustrate  by  an  example :  Some  of  my  friends  declare 
that  Sugar  Loaf  will  "  double  almost "  any  other  variety, 
while  others  declare  it  is  no  account ;  all  agree  in  early  ma- 
turity and  ease  of  picking.  The  reason  of  these  different 
true  statements  arises  from  the  fact,  that  Sugar  Loaf  does  best 
upon  rich,  fresh  land,  inclining  to  moisture,  that  is,  green  land  ; 
whereas  upon  high  and  dry  land,  and  old  at  that,  the  produc- 
tion is  not  good. 

J.  E.  H.,  asserts  of  his  seed,  that  the  production  and  yield 
of  lint  is  greater  than  any  I  have  tried  ;  he  states  figures ;  he 
did  not  state  quality  of  land  ;  I  have  planted  them  upon  good 
upland,  cleared  twenty-two  years  ago,  from  which  was  taken 
a  500  Ib.  bale  a  few  years  since.  I  only  anticipate  to  give 
relative  yield,  and  by  testing  two  or  three  years  I  can  find 
out  which  land  suits  each  kind. 


116  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

The  adapting  of  seed  to  the  soil  that  suits  is  no  small  mat- 
ter, and  does  not  receive  the  attention  it  deserves.  It  is  im- 
possible that  any  one  man  can  experiment  so  as  to  arrive  at 
just  conclusions.  He  may  take  one,  or  two  varieties,  and 
test ;  but  to  test  the  great  many  varieties  that  we  now  have 
requires  too  much  time  and  trouble.  If  some  of  the  agricul- 
tural societies  would  take  the  matter  in  hand,  trouble  would 
be  divided,  and  just  conclusions  arrived  at.  I  have  bestowed 
considerable  attention  to  these  matters,  and  have  interfered 
with  business  matters  to  do  so.  I  will  continue  to  prosecute 
my  experiments,  deeming  the  encouragement  I  have  received, 
from  your  subscribers  especially,  as  claiming  my  time  and  at- 
tention. I  would  earnestly  request  of  all  persons  who  have 
new  seed,  to  note  particularly  the  product  upon  different  soils, 
and  give  me  their  views  this  fall.  Some  one  or  two  of  my 
friends  have  complained  of  the  100-seed ;  why  this  is  so,  I 
cannot  understand — 100-seed  is  certainly  the  best  variety  of 
the  Mexican,  and  is  recommended  as  such.  Col.  Vick  took 
the  best  Mexican — the  little  hum  Mexican — and  from  that 
variety  after  several  years'  selection  settled  down  upon  the 
variety  he  named  100-seed. 

This  variety,  so  far  as  I  have  experienced,  is  the  best 
upon  rich  or  poor  land — compared  with  Mexican  or  Petit 
Gulf.  Unless  Brown  seed  excels  100-seed  upon  rich  up- 
land, I  would  prefer  that  variety  for  that  land,  or  even 
upon  rich  dry  low  ground.  The  Sugar  Loaf  will  do  better 
upon  rich  fresh  land,  but  after  a  few  years'  culture  the 
Vick  seed  will  excel  it.  And  this  is  Col.  Vick's  opinion,  I 
think. 

Bear  with  my  many  words  ;  I  merely  intended  to  have 
thanked  those  friends  who  so  kindly  favored  me  with  their 
select  specimens,  and  have  thus  ran  on.  I  beg  they  will  ac- 
cept my  thanks,  as  also  all  others  who  have  sent  me  other 


SCRAPER  AND   COTTON  SEED.  117 

articles  upon  trial.     I  will   endeavor  to  give   a  just  and  true 
account  of  them. 

I  have  near  about  twenty  varieties  by  name,  and  hope  to 
be  able  to  make  an  interesting  report  next  winter. 

Since  writing  the  above,  some  good  felloAv  has  sent  me  seed 
of  a  millet,  entirely  new  to  me.  I  have  seen  and  grown  sev- 
eral varieties,  but  the  shape  of  seed,  resembling  slightly  wheat 
•when  not  grown,  or  injured,  or  perhaps  rye  when  cut  too 
ear]y — the  seed  being  longest  and  largest  at  one  end.  The 
seed  came  from  Lauderdale,  Mississippi,  and  the  writer  gave 
"  Lauderdale"  as  his  signature.  This  mode  of  signatures  does 
in  some  countries ;  for  instance  the  Duke  of  Devonshire, 
might  sign  his  name  Devonshire  and  bo  known.  But,  de 
gustibus  non,  I  will  not  quarrel  with  any  kind-hearted  fellow 
who  will  thus  make  me  a  recipient  of  his  favor. 

Truly  yours, 

Edwards,  Miss.,  April,  1850  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION   XI. — SCRAPER   AND    COTTON   SEED. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — To-night  I  read  your  May  number,  in  which 
I  notice  a  call  for  the  description  of  the  Mississippi  Scraper,  or 
a  drawing  thereof.  I  also  received  a  letter  to-night,  from  a 
new  friend  in  Alabama,  on  the  same  subject. 

I  hasten  now  to  say  to  you,  that  I  will  write  to  Yicksburg 
to-night,  and  endeavor  to  get  a  drawing.  If  I  fail,  I  will  send 
a  scraper  to  Augusta,  Georgia,  with  direction  that  a  drawing 
be  taken,  and  that  the  scraper  be  presented,  in  my  name,  to 
the  contributor  of  the  Cultivator,  who  is  most  punctual  in  sup- 
plying original  matter  for  this  paper. 

I  have  used  the  scraper  for  ten  years,  and  believe   I  had 


118 

the  first  one  ever  tried  in  Mississippi.  I  think  I  tried  one  in 
1838  or  1839,  and  continued  trying  to  improve  it,  until  Smith 
Taylor,  a  blacksmith  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  beat  me  so  bad, 
I  had  to  take  his.  The  suggestion  was  first  made  to  my 
brother,  in  October  or  November,  1837,  by  a  Mr.  Tilgman,  of 
Tennessee,  who  had  to  take  log-cabin  fare  for  a  night.  I 
deem  it  proper  to  say,  that  many  planters  here  say  they 
scrape  with  the  turning-plough  as  well.  I  have  tried  both, 
and  as  one  is  as  cheap  as  the  other,  and  the  scraper  works 
best  with  me,  I  retain  it. 

I  am  positively  certain  that  upon  land  put  in  first-rate  con- 
dition for  scraping,  that  I  can  have  eighteen  acres  scraped  in 
six  days,  by  one  hand.  I  mean  he  can  average  three  acres 
per  day,  for  six  days.  Of  course  the  land  must  not  be  wet, 
and  in  the  condition  that  we  can  have  it  nine  years  out  of  ten. 

Allow  me,  en  passant,  to  say  to  Hinds,  of  Cayuga,  Miss., 
that  he  is  not  many  miles  from  me,  and  if  he  will  come  this 
way,  that  I  will  show  him  one-fourth  of  my  crop  planted  in 
Hogan  seed.  The  Banana,  Hogan,  and  Pitt — "  identical  I" 
"  All  in  my  eye  and  Betty  Martin  too  !"  The  Pitt  is  as  much 
unlike  Hogan,  as  Sugar  Loaf  is  unlike  Mexican.  They  have 
not  leaf,  stalk,  or  boll  alike.  There  has  been  too  much  specu- 
lation in  seed ;  but  my  dear  fellow,  let  us  be  cautious  lest  we 
do  injury  otherwise.  You  have  heard  of  the  Montgomery  on 
Fourteen  Mile  Creek — the  elder  brother,  A.  K.  Montgomery, 
says  his  Hogan  excelled,  last  year,  Mexican,  nearly  two-fold. 
His  father,  an  aged  planter,  plants  it  this  year,  after  his  ex- 
perience last  year.  Do  you  know  H.  W.  Griffith,  between 
Palestine  and  Utica  ?  He  will  assure  you  that  he  exceeded 
a  bale  per  acre,  last  year,  with  the  Brown  seed.  David  Gib- 
son, of  Warren,  exceeded  a  bale  per  acre,  of  the  Banana.  And 
more  I  might  name,  but  I  suppose  enough  for  the  occasion. 

The  Banana  is  a  seed  introduced  by  David  Gibson,  of  War- 


SCRAPER  AND   COTTON  SEED.  119 

ren  County,  Miss.  I  saw  the  correspondence  and  assure 
Hinds  that  these  seed  are  introduced  from  Georgia,  yet  I  be- 
lieve they  are  of  the  same  parentage  as  the  Cluster,  which  is 
the  original  name,  and  from  whence  Win.  Hogan,  of  Warren, 
procured  his  seed. 

The  Multiboll  I  never  saw,  and  therefore  cannot  say  aught 
lor  or  against  it.  But  the  Sugar  Loaf,  upon  rich  fresh  land, 
say  big  black,  or  Mississippi  low  grounds,  will  excel  any 
other  that  has  yet  been  tested  by  its  side,  and  I  know  not  a 
solitary  person  who  denies  it. 

As  to  those,  whom  Hinds  charges  with  "  always  collecting 
new  corn  and  cotton  seed,"  and  they  being  the  persons  who 
fail  in  cotton  crops.  That  may  be  so.  There  has  to  be  one 
sheep  in  the  flock  to  carry  the  bell,  and  provided  the  bell  is 
useful,  the  other  sheep  should  not  complain.  One  who  knows 
all  this  ought  not  to  split  upon  the  breakers. 

Hinds  has  done  me  the  kindness  to  send  me  some  seed, 
which  I  planted,  and  have  only  two  or  three  stalks.  They 
shall  be  nursed,  though  I  do  fail  in  a  crop.  I  am  fond  of  tiles'! 
sort  of  things,  and  as  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  some- 
body fool  enough  to  waste  his  time,  I  might  as  well  be  that 
one,  as  I  have  no  babies  to  feed.  So  Mr.  Hinds,  thou  neigh- 
bor of  mine,  who  blaze  away  with  a  scattering  shot  gun, 
under  so  large  a  name,  e'en  load  up  and  fire  again — no  telling, 
you  will  hit  somebody ;  and  it  will  keep  up  our  blood  in  the 
long  days  now  setting  in. 

I  would  like  to  know  yc  ;  you  talk  well  about  impositions 
I  will  join  you  in  some  respects,  but  I  prefer  to  be  specific  ; 
and  I  will  not,  if  possible,  commit  a  similar  blunder,  as  any 
one  who  says  Banana,  and  Hogan,  and  Pitt,  are  one  and  the 
same.  The  first  two  may  be,  but  never  the  last. 

I  have  been  buying  seed  for  some  fifteen  to  seventeen  years. 
I  have  sold  for  two  or  three  years,  and  I  wish  to  sell  again. 


120 

I  do  try  all  sorts  that  are  recommended  to  me,  and  some  that 
I  select  myself.  Now,  Hinds,  here  is  a  customer,  and  an  old 
one,  who  can  stand  much  shooting  at. 

With  respect,  yours,  &c., 
May  24,  1850.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION  XII. — THE  DIFFERENT  VARIETIES   OF    COTTON   SEED. 

DR.  CLOUD  :• — Many  ask  me  what  is  my  opinion  now  of  the 
different  varieties  of  seed,  and  to  save  much  writing,  I  ask  of 
you  the  favor  to  be  allowed  to  answer  one  and  all. 

There  are  those  who  ridicule  selling  improved  seed,  but 
they  will  plant  such  if  given  ;  others  ridicule,  to  be  thought 
of  the  prudent  sort  of  folk.  Every  one  to  his  notion.  In 
1833,  or  about — for  it  was  in  '32  or  '33 — there  were  those 
who  ridiculed  my  trying  to  get  up  a  better  seed ;  they  were 
only  my  second  neighbors.  This  class  has  greatly  increased, 
and  even  improving  men  lend  themselves  to  this  cant.  My 
improving  was  only  intended  for  home  consumption,  and 
would  have  so  continued,  had  not  an  estimable  friend,  an  old 
school-mate,  insisted,  if  I  desired  to  benefit  planters,  that  I 
could  do  more  by  selling  seed  than  any  other  way.  He  had 
tried  seed  grown  here,  perhaps  two  years,  being  sent  to  him 
as  an  old  and  cherished  friend.  Others  inquiring,  put  me  in 
the  way  of  selling  seed.  Of  this  it  matters  not ;  a  planter 
might  as  well  sell  seed  of  corn,  oats,  &c.,  as  cotton.  It  is  all 
sheer  ruffle-shirt  cant,  to  ridicule  selling  anything  a  man  has 
to  spare.  To  cull  seed  carefully,  cure  them  properly,  attend 
to  correspondence,  and  all  the  little  perplexities,  as  well  as 
loss  to  be  incurred  if  a  full  crop  is  not  made,  is  not  very  satis- 
factory to  one,  unless  the  almighty  dollar  has  complete  posses- 
sion of  him.  At  least,  I  am  willing  to  quit  the  business. 


THE   DIFFERENT   VARIETIES   OF    COTTON.  121 

Some  three  years  ago,  I  offered  a  near  neighbor,  and  a  dear 
friend,  all  my  improvement,  if  he  would  take  the  trouble  off 
my  hands  ;  and  I  will  do  so  to  any  planter  who  will  assure 
me  of  his  devotedness  to  this  matter.  The  man  who  is  gov- 
erned only  by  cent,  per  cent,  will  not  do.  I  plant  this  year 
near  200  acres,  or  perhaps  over,  of  select  seed.  I  think  I 
make  by  it ;  selling  seed  is  too  small  a  business — yet  to  be 
called  the  "  celebrated  cotton-man  of  Edwards,  Miss.,"  is 
enough  to  induce  any  one  to  persevere. 

All  this,  by  the  way.  Ridicule  may  turn  some  men  from 
principle  ;  it  only  has  the  effect  on  myself  to  let  the  writers 
and  speakers  see  that,  though  not  felt,  it  is  not  through  want  of 
perspicuity. 

We  will  plant  as  nearly  an  entire  crop  as  we  have  good 
seed,  with  the  Cluster  cotton  seed  ;  this  is  the  original  name, 
but  known  now  by  as  many  names  as  there  are  persons  who 
desire  to  make  money  by  selling  seed.  We  will  plant  Silk 
(called  McBride  by  some),  100-seed,  Sugar  Loaf,  Dean,  and 
small  parcels  of  others.  The  Cluster,  or  Banana,  has  been 
much  improved.  The  best  now  on  sale  is  Boyd's  Prolific. 
From  this  I  have  culled  very  carefully  for  three  years,  I 
think,  and,  by  way  of  keeping  solely  for  home  use,  I  call  them 
Home-seed;  many,  who  have  seen  this  selection,  deem  it  bet- 
ter than  the  original  accidental  variety,  for  I  learn  from  Mr. 
Boyd  that  it  was  an  accidental  stalk.  Silk  is  perhaps  better 
for  all  descriptions  of  land  ;  many  of  my  friends  prefer  it  to 
Banana,  objecting  to  the  latter  on  poor,  and  on  rich  fresh 
land  ;  on  the  first,  the  forms  dry  up ;  on  the  latter,  breaks 
down — this  latter  can  be  remedied  by  topping,  say  one  to  two 
feet  off.  Sugar  Loaf  is  best  upon  new  ground,  rich,  sweet  gum 
land.  I  have  made  over  41,000  Ibs.  the  first  year  land  was 
cleared,  from  twenty-four  acres  of  land.  JOO-seed  still  retains 
its  position  on  rich,  fresh  land, 
6 


122  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Of  the  Jetliro,  several  have  inquired  of  me  if  I  knew  it.  I 
reply  :  In  the  winter  of  '46-7,  Col.  H.  W.  Vick  sent  me  eight 
small  parcels  of  cotton  in  the  seed,  and  asked  my  examination 
and  experiment.  They  were  endorsed  thus :  100-seed,  Lin- 
tonia,  Diamond,  Original  Stock,  Seed  taken  at  random  from  a 
pile,  Belle  Creole,  not  a  distinct  variety,  hut  inclining  to  Silk, 
eight  locks  of  the  Small  Diamond,  very  valuable,  Sub  Ingri. 
These  were  planted  April  23,  1847,  hoed  and  picked  by  my- 
self; no  one  permitted  to  touch,  except  ploughing.  From  the 
seventh  variety  (inclining  to  Silk),  I  selected  what  I  deemed 
best  in  the  lot.  I  sent  a  few  seed  to  J.  H.  Hammond,  e"x- 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  and  to  J.  V.  Jones,  of  Georgia. 
The  latter  brought  it  into  notice,  and  I  named  it,  in  compli- 
ment to  him,  Jethro. 

The  history  is  comprised  in  a  line.  Col.  Vick  sent  me  a  few 
seed,  not  half-a-pint ;  I  planted  and  worked  the  crop.  J.  V. 
Jones  made  it  tell.  To  the  latter  is  due  the  credit,  and  so  let 
it  rest. 

The  Dean  cotton  was  sent  me  about  five  years  ago,  I  think, 
as  Santa  Maria,  by  a  warm  and  devoted  friend  to  agricultural 
improvement,  C.  B.  Stewart,  of  Texas,  from  whom  I  have  re- 
ceived many  kind,  similar  favors  ;  the  production  was  so  mea- 
gre that  I  discontinued  the  culture.  After  it  had  attracted 
attention,  by  fifteen  and  sixteen  cent,  price,  he  again  sent  me 
some,  and  Milton  Cabeen,  a  personal  acquaintance  and  friend, 
procured  me  a  few  seed  from  Mr.  Dean  himself.  The  yield 
is  not  one-half  of  my  Banana,  but  the  staple  is  excellent. 
Having  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  make  all  my  crop  ordinary 
to  low  middling,  and  getting  some  seven  to  eight  cents,  I  con- 
clude to  make  a  better  article,  and  now  plant  all  my  Dean 
seed.  Silk  and  Banana  yields  about  the  same  pure  gin  stand — 
say  thirty-one  per  cent. — ginning  out  500  to  1000  Ibs.  These 
yield  more  lint  than  any  other  variety  I  have  tried, 


COTTON  SEED  SPECULATIONS.  123 

One  word  as  to  selecting  seed.  A  contributor  of  yours 
from  Texas,  is  very  correct  as  to  the  plan  to  be  followed  in 
making  the  best  seed.  It  is  what  all  planters  should  do,  who 
desire  to  promote  our  cause.  There  is  something  else  needed, 
and  more  than  one  in  a  hundred  possess.  Not  alone  the  de- 
sire and  care,  but  discrimination,  judgment.  "We  can  tell  that 
one  article  is  not  good,  productive,  &c.,  but  to  select  the  best 
is  difficult.  Frankly  do  I  confess  to  want  of  that  faculty,  and 
have  therefore  preferred  to  rely  upon  the  selection  of  others, 
and  to  labor  to  keep  up  that  quality.  It  is  sometimes  good 
economy  to  buy  a  pair  of  pigs,  even  at  $50,  than  to  spend 
time  and  means  to  bring  up  to  same  perfection.  This  no  one 
can  deny.  Why  not  the  same  of  cotton,  corn,  oats,  &c.  It 
is  the  duty  of  every  planter  to  strive  to  add  to  the  knowledge 
and  resources^of  our  cause.  We  may  fail,  but  the  reward  is 
sure — honest  intention.  Success  to  your  efforts  ;  may  they 
be  satisfactory  to  yourself,  and  a  blessing  to  our  land  and 
nation.  Ytmrs,  &c., 

Edwards,  Miss.,  April  10,  1855.  M.  W.  PHILIPS. 


SECTION    XIII. — COTTON    SEED    SPECULATIONS. 

MR.  EDITOR: — I  have  noticed,  in  several  of  the  last  Nos.  of 
the  Cultivator,  descriptions  and  recommendations  of  a  variety 
of  new  sorts  of  cotton  seed.  I  have  also  noticed  this  in  the 
different  papers  of  this  State.  There  is,  at  this  time,  a  greater 
variety  of  cotton  seed  in  this  State,  than  I  have  ever  known; 
and  I  think  that  I  may  with  safety  say,  that  most  of  them 
were  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  speculating.  In  this,  I  will 
be  condemned  by  many,  but  by  only  those  who  are  engaged 
in  it. 


124 

I  can  say,  fortunately,  that  I  am  acquainted  with  some  of 
the  humbugs  in  the  way  of  cotton  seed.  If  you  recollect,  the 
Mastodon  was  introduced  some  four  or  five  years  since ;  and 
I  recollect  when  there  was  not  sufficient  seed  in  this  neighbor- 
hood to  supply  the  demand  at  $5  per  bushel.  I  am  acquainted 
with  the  gentleman  who  first  planted  and  sold  the  seed  in  this 
State ;  and  it  is  generally  believed  that  his  profit  was  much 
greater  from  the  sale  of  the  Mastodon  seed,  than  the  proceeds 
of  his  entire  crop  for  two  years.  At  this  time,  there  is  not  a 
seed  of  it  growing,  to  my  knowledge. 

The  Hogan,  was  the  great  cry  last  year ;  this  year,  I  have 
heard  but  very  little  said  of  it.  Some  of  my  neighbors,  who 
bought  seeds  at  ten  cents  a-piece  and  planted  them  last  year, 
will  not  plant  them  at  all  this  year:  which,  I  think,  is  suffi- 
cient proof  that  there  is  considerable  of  the  humbug  about 
them. 

I  believe  that  there  is  more  fuss  respecting  the  Banana,  this 
year,  especially  in  the  county  of  Warren.  I  have  never  seen 
this  article  of  seed ;  but,  from  what  I  can  learn,  they  are  iden- 
tical with  the  Hogan  and  Pitt ;  and  I  think  that  the  name  has 
been  changed  in  order  to  effect  an  increase  in  the  sale  of  the 
seed. 

The  Brown,  I  think  nothing  more  than  an  improvement  on 
the  Multiboll ;  and  there  is  but  little  difference  between  the 
Multiboll  and  Sugar  Loaf.  These  two  kinds  of  seed  I  planted 
last  year,  and  I  find  that  they  both  yield  well  on  fresh  land, 
but  do  not  do  well  on 'poor  land.  The  only  advantage  that  I 
can  see,  is  in  the  picking.  It  does  pick  easier  than  the  Mexi- 
can, but  is  much  easier  blown  out  of  the  bolls,  and  therefore 
more  liable  to  waste. 

But,  Mr.  Editor,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  think  that  I  am  op 
posed  to  the  improvement  of  cotton  seed.     I  am  as  much  in 
favor  of  it  as  any  one,  but  my  plan  is  to  pick  the  Mexican 


AGRICULTURAL  HUMBUGS.  125 

seed.  I  think,  or  rather  fear,  that  the  introduction  of  the  great 
variety  of  seed  will  ruin  the  Mexican.  At  present,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  get  a  genuine  article  of  Mexican  seed.  By  being 
careful,  and  picking  our  seed,  we  can  improve  them  to  a  con- 
siderable degree.  And  I  have  noticed  that  those  very  men 
who  are  always  collecting  new  corn  and  cotton  seed,  are  the 
men  that  most  generally  fail  in  making  full  crops.  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  a  great  many  will  readily  conclude  that  I  have 
been  deceived  in  buying  seed,  and  for  this  reason  complain ; 
but  my  reply  is,  that  I  never  have  bought  or  sold  a  cotton  seed 
in  my  life,  but  I  have  some  neighbors  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
trying  all  sorts. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 
Cayuga,  Miss.,  March,  1850.  HINDS. 


SECTION  XIV. — AGRICULTURAL   HUMBUGS. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  : — When  will  humbuggery  and  extrava- 
gant representations  of  things  and  new  discoveries  cease  ?  I 
will  drop  back  about  eighteen  years,  and  bring  up  my  sub- 
ject as  things  may  occur  to  my  mind.  Should  I  present 
names,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  doing  it  respectfully,  not 
charging  any  one  with  willful  false  statements.  Men's  inter- 
est, in  general,  leads  them,  while  giving  an  account  of  some- 
thing new,  to  give  a  coloring  to  their  statements  that  often 
leads  their  hearers  into  error  or  false  notions  This  is  what  I 
wish  to  correct.  Any  one  writing  about  seeds,  or  anything 
else,  should  first  make  fair  and  disinterested  trials — proving 
the  thing  before  saying  everything  in  its  favor.  Always  give 
the  dark  side,  if  it  has  any,  as  well  as  the  bright.  Get  men's 
anticipations  raised  to  a  high  pitch  about  a  new  kind  of  cot- 
ton, or  any  other  seeds,  and  they,  for  the  sake  of  gain,  go  in 


126 

for  the  money,  and  soon  find  their  disappointment,  as  in  times 
of  old — it  sours,  it  will  not  keep — and  cry  out  humbugged. 

First,  Baden  corn,  about  eighteen  years  since,  was  run  up 
to  a  high  pitch  by  false  statements,  and  men  went  in  for  seed 
at  about  $30  a  bushel — a  complete  failure ;  the  thing  passed 
off  in  quick  order.  Next,  in  the  year  1837  or  '38,  the  Twin 
or  Okra  cotton  seed  came  up ;  seed  sold  at  various  prices, 
from  $5  a  quart  to  $160  per  bushel.  It,  by-the-by,  proved  to 
be  a  pretty  good  kind  of  cotton.  I  have  been  led  to  believe, 
that  by  a  mixture  of  that  kind  with  the  Petit  Gulf,  &c.,  have, 
by  proper  selection  and  care,  sprung  up  all  those  new  kinds, 
or  nearly  so,  that  we  have  heard  so  much  about  for  the  last 
five  years.  Be  it  as  it  may,  that  seed  has  long  been  num- 
bered with  the  things  gone  by.  Next  thing  comes  the  making 
of  sugar  from  common  corn  stalks.  There  was  no  speculation 
in  this  that  I  heard  of;  but  what  extravagant  accounts  did 
we  hear  ?  Some  went  so  far  as  to  make  out  that  it  would 
make  more  sugar  per  acre,  with  proper  management,  than  the 
sugar-cane  in  its  proper  soil  and  climate.  How  has  it  turned 
out  ?  Why,  I  suppose,  a  failure,  as  it  has  passed  off — now 
never  heard  of.  The  Jerusalem  Artichoke — not  so  much  of 
a  humbug,  but  overrated — has  also  gone  by.  Next  comes 
Mr.  Abby,  of  Mississippi,  with  his  Mastodon  cotton  seed.  I, 
fool  like,  went  in  for  enough,  one  year,  to  plant  twelve  acres ; 
and,  as  the  devil  said  when  he  sheared  the  hog,  "  a  great  cry 
for  a  little  wool."  Mr.  Abby  could  not  keep  the  reputation 
of  his  seed  up  by  all  he  could  say  in  the  papers.  They  had 
to  pass  off — though  not  before  he  realized  several  thousand 
dollars,  as  has  been  said.  Next  comes  Remington,  with 
his  bridge  and  bed-slats — if  not  a  humbug,  certainly  a  failure, 
and  has  long  since  been  laid  as  cold  as  a  wedge.  There  is 
the  Banana,  Pomegranate,  Sugar  Loaf,  Texan  Burr,  Silk, 
Brown,  and  Jethro  cotton  seeds — all  very  good,  I  have  no 


AGRICULTURAL   HUMBUGS.  127 

doubt;  but  there  has  been  more  said  in  the  papers,  in  the  way 
of  puffing,  than  was  justifiable,  it  being  to  effect  certain  pur- 
poses, and  that  of  a  selfish  nature.  At  last,  the  very  kind  for 
us  Georgians  has  been  accidently  discovered  by  a  Mr.  Miller, 
of  Mississippi.  He  styles  it  his  Accidental  Poor-Land  Cot- 
ton. If  this  kind  of  cotton  will  do  all  Mr.  Miller  says  it 
will,  it  would  be  a  great  misfortune  for  us  cotton  planters  to 
have  enough  of  the  seed  to  plant  full  crops  all  over  the  cot- 
ton-growing country.  He  says  it  will  make  300  Ibs.  per  acre 
more  than  any  other  kind  of  cotton  he  is  acquainted  with.  This 
kind  of  cotton,  at  this  rate,  would  run  a  three  million  crop  up 
to  more  than  four  millions,  and  this  would  reduce  the  price 
probably  to  four  or  five  cents.  Don't  you  see,  Mr.  Miller, 
that  we  had  better  let  you  keep  and  plant  your  seed  ?  You 
say  tliat  you  had  rather  plant  your  crop  with  them  than  take 
$1  a  pint.  My  dear  sir,  $1  a  pint  for  the  seed  is  about  $2,500 
for  the  seed  from  one  bale — about  fifty  times  as  much  as  the 
cotton  sold  for.  Let  us  alone,  friend,  we  are  doing  pretty 
well — we  might  do  worse. 

Next  comes  a  new  kind  of  corn — sprung  up  like  Jonah's 
gourd,  and  for  which  I  predict  a  similar  fate.  I  car;  tell  Mr. 
Ware  that  no  kind  of  corn  will  do  on  common  corn  land,  that 
bears  from  four  to  five  stalks  from  one  grain.  But  to  the 
price — one  and  a-half  gallons  for  $5,  near  $40  per  bushel. 
This  looks  like  doing  brother  planters  favors.  Next  comes 
Mr.  Young,  with  his  superior  kind  of  Yellow  Corn ;  a  very 
good  kind,  I  admit,  for  strong  land  and  good  seasons.  I  have 
tried,  I  can't  say  how  may  kinds  of  corn,  but  have  experi- 
mented enough  to  know  that  a  medium-sized  ear  of  either 
white  or  yellow  corn  is  the  best  to  be  depended  on,  if  planted 
in  ordinary  land  and  common  seasons.  I  do  not  like  this  $2 
a  peck,  when  a  good  kind  of  corn  can  be  had  at  thirty  cents 
a  bushel.  I  have  a  mind  to  say  something  for  our  much- 


128  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

respected  old  friend,  the  Doctor,  of  Mississippi.  He  has  had 
a  great  deal  to  say  in  the  papers  about  the  different  kinds  of 
cotton  seed,  and,  if  I  have  not  forgot,  he,  a  few  years  since, 
spoke  of  the  sale  of  cotton  seed  as  being  something  in  the 
order  of  a  temporal  saviour.  He  seems  to  be  hauling  off,  and 
is  very  careless  on  the  subject  of  the  sale  of  cotton  seed.  You 
see  what  he  says  on  the  subject. 

I  might  have  said  something  of  the  Multicaulus  fever,  the 
Berkshire  speculation,  &c.,  &c.,  but  have  probably  already 
said  more  than  will  be  acceptable. 

Yours,  with  great  respect, 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  Feb.,  1853.  JOHN  FAEEAE. 


SECTION  XV. — SEA   ISLAND    COTTON   PLANTING. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — In  the  table  on  the  opposite  page  you  have 
the  success  of  a  Sea  Island  cotton  planter  for  the  last  eighteen 
years,  showing  the  amount  raised  per  acre  in  each  year,  the 
price  received  per  Ib.  for  each  crop,  and  the  net  proceeds  per 
hand  ;  also,  for  a  part  of  the  time,  the  appearance  of  the  first 
blossoms,  and  the  time  of  the  first  killing  frost. 

To  the  upland,  and  perhaps  to  the  more  successful  Sea 
Island  planter,  I  may  seem  to  have  been  doing  a  very  small 
business,  still  I  think  there  are  many  who  have  not  done  any 
better ;  and  as  I  know  of  no  better  way  of  measuring  our  suc- 
cess than  by  comparing  notes,  I  shall  be  gratified  in  having 
the  experience  of  any  of  my  planting  friends,  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  time. 

In  the  eighteen  37ears  my  crops  of  cotton  have  averaged  a 
fraction  over  three  acres  per  hand,  and  a  yield  of  137  Ibs. 
per  acre,  and  net  proceeds  per  hand,  $83. 

Liberty  County,  Ga.,  July,  1848.  A  SEABOAED  PLANTEE. 


SEA  ISLAND   COTTON — STATISTICS.  129 

(TABLE  ALLUDED  TO  ON  PRECEDING  PAGE.) 


Tear. 

Yield  of 
Cotton  per 

Average 
price    per 

Net  pro- 
ceeds per 

Time  of  first 
blossom. 

First  Idling 
frost. 

acre. 

Ib. 

hand. 

Ibs. 

cts. 

$ 

1830 

90 

17 

45 

1831 

100 

17-1. 

46 

1832 

208 

17f 

85 

1833 

141 

22 

88 

1834 

112 

32 

123 

r 

1835 

130 

34 

137 

June  22 

Nov.  28 

1836 

81 

371. 

87 

1837 

85 

264 

73 

June  26 

Nov.  23 

1838 

86 

41 

84 

"     27 

Oct.    30 

1839 

174 

211 

95 

"     19 

Nov.    8 

1840 

154 

27 

110 

"     10 

Nov.  19 

1841 

153 

15f 

61 

"     18 

Oct.    26 

1842 

223 

134 

80 

"     15 

Nov.  11 

1843 

164 

22  £ 

91 

"     22 

Nov.    7 

1844 

146 

144 

60 

5 

Oct.    29  / 

1845 

200 

22 

121 

"       9 

Nov.  10 

*1846 

68 

24 

41 

"     16 

Nov.  25 

1847 

156 

14 

70 

««       7 

i 

Excessively  wet,  attended  with  caterpillars. 


SECTION  XVI. — SEA  ISLAND   COTTON — STATISTICS. 

In  a  late  Number  of  the  Charleston  Courier,  we  find  a  "Re- 
port on  Soils,  Marsh  Mud,  and  ike  Cotton  Plant,"  prepared 
by  Prof.  Shepard,  for  the  use  of  Mr.  E.  W.  Seabrook,  of  Edisto 
Island.  We  publish  it  below,  in  the  hope  that  it  will  prove 
interesting  and  useful  to  our  readers  on  the  seaboard  of  the 
Carolinas,  Georgia  and  Florida;  and  prefix  some  valuable 
statistics  upon  the  growth  and  price  of  the  Sea  Island  cotton 
during  twenty-two  years  prior  to  1841.  These  statistics  were 


130  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

compiled  by  the  Charleston  Standard,  which  we  quote  as  fol- 
lows : 

We  will  add  a  few  statistics,  showing  the  value  and  im- 
portance of  the  Sea  Island  cotton  crop.  Extending  our  ex- 
amination over  a  period  of  the  twenty  years  preceding  1841, 
we  find  its  production  and  price  as  follows  : 


1821  Quantity,  11,344,066      Av.  price  in  Liverpool, 

1822  "  11,250,635  "  "  19d. 

1823  "  12,136,688  "  "  17£d. 

1824  "  9,525,722  "  ••  19jd. 

1825  "  9,655,278  "  "  28|d. 

1826  "  5,972,852  "  "  20d. 

1827  "  15,140,798  "  "  14Jd. 

1828  "  11,288,419  "  "  16d. 

1829  "  12,833,307  "  "  15d. 

1830  "  8,147,165  "  "  16d. 

1831  "  8,311,762  "  "  13Jd. 

1832  "  8,743,373  "  "  13|d. 

1833  "  11,142,987  "  "  16Jd. 

1834  "  8,085,935  "  "  19|d. 

1835  "  7,752,736  "  "  24£d. 

1836  "  8,054,419  "  "  25d. 

1837  "  5,286,340  "  "  26d 

1838  "  7,286,340. 

1839  "  1,107,404. 

1840  "  8,770,669. 

1841  "  6,400,000—20,000  bales  at  320  Ibs.  each. 

Since  1841,  we  have  before  us  no  reliable  statistics,  except 
with  reference  to  the  years  1850  and  '51  and  '52.     With  re- 

Fpect  to  the  crop  delivered  up  to  the  1st  of  September  in  each 


SEA   ISLAND    COTTON   PLANTING.  131 

of  these  years,  it  will  appear  that  in  1850  it  amounted,  in  the 
ports  of  Savannah  and  Charleston  alone,  to  26,634  bales,  or 
8,522,880  Ibs. ;  in  1851,  to  28,362  bales,  or  9,075,840  Ibs ;  in 
1852,  to  30,878  bales,  or  9,878,900  Ibs.  And  up  to  this  date 
of  the  present  year,  we  have  30,031,  against  28,552  of  the  same 
time  last  year,  giving  us  the  reasonable  assurance  of  a  larger 
crop,  by  some  2,000  bales,  than  we  have  had  for  many  years 
previous. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  improvement.  The  price  has  very 
greatly  advanced,  at  least  within  the  last  year.  The  price  at 
present  ranges,  for  Santees  and  Maines,  from  fifty  to  fifty-five 
cents  per  Ib. ;  for  Floridas,  from  forty -two  to  forty-eight ;  and  for 
Sea  Islands,  from  fifty  to  seventy  ;  and  though  this  may  be 
slightly  above  the  ruling  prices  for  the  season,  the  average 
of  all  long  staple  cotton,  for  the  entire  season,  would  not  vary 
far  from  forty-eight  cents,  leaving  an  immense  profit  to  the 
planter  over  that  afforded  by  any  other  staple:  To  pay  as  well 
as  the  short  staple  cotton,  the  long  staple  must  sell  for  twice 
as  much  per  Ib.  At  present  it  sells  for  more  than  four  times 
as  much  ;  and  its  cultivation  must  be,  therefore,  by  so  much 
the  more  profitable,  and  give  by  so  much  the  greater  induce- 
ment to  its  continuance  and  extension. 


SECTION   XVII. — SEA   ISLAND    COTTON   PLANTING. 
From  the  American  Agriculturist. 

EDISTO  ISLAND,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  South  Carolina  group, 
about  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Charleston,  containing  5,000 
or  6,000  inhabitants,  is  the  principal  point  where  this  valuable 
crop  is  cultivated.  It  is  a  sandy  soil,  but  little  above  tide, 
which,  flowing  through  many  channels,  gives  very  irregular 


132  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

shapes  to  the  farms,  but  beatable  water  almost  at  every  man's 
door.  By  tins  means  tlie  crop  is  conveyed  to  market,  boats 
being  substituted  for  wagons.  There  is  considerable  marsh, 
some  of  which  has  been  reclaimed,  and  produces  good 
cotton. 

Salt-marsh  mud  is  much  used  for  manure,  at  the  rate  of  about 
forty  one-horse  cart  loads  to  the  acre.  Some  compost  it,  others 
put  it  in  the  cattle  pens.  Some  dry  it  before  hauling,  and 
then  spread  upon  the  land.  Mr.  John  F.  Townsend  prefers  to 
use  it  as  soon  as  dug,  spread  upon  the  land  wet,  and  ploughed 
in.  He  is  the  only  man  on  the  island  who  uses  ploughs  to  any 
extent.  All  the  land  is  cultivated  with  hoes,  upon  the  two- 
field  system;  that  is,  one  field  in  cotton,  corn, .and  sweet  po- 
tatoes; in  the  proportion  of  about  seven-twelfths  cotton,  three- 
twelfths  corn,  and  two-twelfths  potatoes;  in  all,  less  than  six 
acres  to  the  hand.  As  the  soil  is  generally  very  light,  it  is 
unproductive  without  manure.  Therefore,  as  many  cattle  are 
kept  as  can  be  pastured  upon  the  "field  at  rest,"  and  the 
marsh  and  woodland.  These  are  penned  in  movable  yards, 
littered  with  fine  straw  and  coarse  marsh-grass  or  weeds,  which 
is  also  used  to  lay  along  between  the  old  rows,  to  which  muck 
and  manure  is  added,  and  all  the  grass  sod  which  has  grown 
during  the  year  is  hoed  down  into  alleys,  and  the  bed  formed 
upon  it,  keeping  the  bottom  as  solid  as  possible. 

If  the  plough  were  substituted  for  the  hoe,  twice  as  much 
manure  could  be  made ;  or  what,  in  my  opinion,  would  be  far 
more  economical  than  digging  muck  or  keeping  so  many  cattle, 
merely  to  make  manure,  would  be  the  use  of  guano.  As  this 
substance  contains  the  same  fertilizing  properties  of  muck,  in 
an  hundred-fold  degree,  I  would  most  earnestly  recommend 
planters  to  try  the  experiment,  by  applying  about  200  Ibs.  to 
the  acre,  ploughed  in  deep,  or  buried  in  the  bottom  of  the 
cotton  or  corn  beds.  Make  use  of  none  but  the  best  Peruvian, 


SEA  ISLAND   COTTON  PLANTING.  133 

and  purchase  it  from  a  reliable  merchant,  so  as  to  be  sure  it  is 
genuine. 

It  is  true  that  cattle  are  easily  kept  here,  living  in  winter 
in  cotton  and  clover  fields,  eating  the  unmatured  bolls  of  the 
former  and  stalks  of  the  latter.  In  warm  winters  there  is  much 
grass,  and  in  summer,  I  believe,  it  is  rather  abundant  through- 
out all  the  south. 

Cotton  is  planted  from  March  20th  to  April  10th,  upon  high 
beds,  five  feet  apart  one  way,  and  from  eight  to  twenty-four 
inches  apart  the  other.  Corn  is  planted  about  the  first  of 
April,  upon  the  same  kind  of  beds,  from  two  to  four  feet  apart. 
Sweet  potatoes  are  planted  the  latter  part  of  March ;  also  upon 
the  same  kind  of  beds  as  the  cotton  and  corn.  As  soon  as  the 
vines  are  sufficiently  grown,  say  on  the  first  of  June,  they  com- 
mence planting  the  "  slip  crop."  This  is  done  by  taking  the 
vines  from  the  seed  beds,  and  laying  along  the  top  of  other 
beds,  and  covering  a  part  of  the  vines  with  dirt,  when  they 
immediately  take  root,  and  grow  a  better  crop  than  from  the 
seed.  The  bed  is  made  rich  and  mellow,  but  the  land  below 
is  kept  as  hard  and  firm  as  possible.  The  beds  for  cotton, 
corn,  and  potatoes,  are  all  made  in  the  same  manner  and  dis- 
tance apart,  and  are  reversed  every  other  crop ;  that  is,  changed 
into  the  alleys  of  the  preceding  one ;  but  no  rotation  of  crops 
is  practised.  The  average  yield  of  potatoes  is  about  150 
bushels  to  the  acre.  Cotton,  (long  staple,)  135  Ibs.  Corn, 
fifteen  bushels  of  the  southern  white-flint  variety :  no  other 
will  stand  the  depredations  of  the  weevil. 

The  amount  of  labor  to  grow  and  prepare  for  market  a  hun- 
dred pounds  of  Sea  Island  cotton,  is  estimated  at  fifty  days' 
work ;  that  is,  the  small  amount  of  labor  which  a  negro  does 
at  "  task  work."  The  first  process  of  preparing  land  for  cot- 
ton, after  manuring,  is  "listing;"  that  is,  hoeing  the  grass  off 
the  old  beds  into  the  alleys.  A  "  task "  of  this  work  is  one- 


134  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

fourth  or  three-eighths  of  an  acre  a-day.  Next,  the  old  beds 
are  hauled  on  top,  at  the  same  rate.  The  whole  "  task  system  " 
is  equally  light,  and  is  one  that  I  most  unreservedly  disapprove 
of,  because  it  promotes  idleness,  and  that  is  the  parent  of  mis- 
chief. 

The  system  of  upland-cotton  and  sugar  planters,  of  giving 
the  hands  plenty  to  eat,  and  steady  employment,  is  a  much 
better  system.  Meat  is  not  generally  fed  to  the  laborers  in 
this  part  of  the  State.  The  diet  is  almost  exclusively  vege- 
table, varying  upon  different  plantations  somewhat.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  weekly  rations  upon  four  places,  which  will 
give  a  general  idea  : 

]st.  One  bushel  potatoes  a-week,  from  about  October  1st  to 
February  1st.  Then  one  peck  of  corn,  ground  or  unground, 
as  preferred ;  or  one  peck  of  broken  rice.  Meat  occasionally. 

2d.  One  bushel  potatoes,  or  ten  qts.  corn  meal,  or  eight  qts. 
of  rice,  and  four  qts.  of  peas,  with  occasional  fresh  meat,  and 
twenty  barrels  of  salt  fish  and  two  barrels  of  molasses  during 
the  year.  Number  of  people  170. 

3d.  Half  a  bushel  of  potatoes,  six  qts.  of  meal,  and  about 
2  Ibs.  of  fresh  meat,  or  ten  qis.  of  meal,  or  ten  qts.  of  rice. 
Carpenters,  millers,  drivers,  and  others  who  do  not  raise  crops 
and  hogs  for  themselves,  have  a  much  larger  allowance. 

4th.  Half  a  bushel  of  potatoes,  or  ten  qts.  of  meal,  and  at 
times,  when  the  labor  is  hard,  a  quart  of  soup  a  day,  and  in 
light  work  twice  a-week.  This  is  made  of  15  Ibs.  of  meat  to 
seventy-five  qts.  of  soup,  thickened  with  turnips,  cabbage,  peas, 
meal,  or  rice.  Upon  this  place,  as  well  as  many  others,  the 
people  can  get  as  many  oysters,  crabs,  and  fish,  as  they  like. 
They  also  keep  a  great  many  more  hogs  than  their  masters, 
but  generally  sell  the  pork  instead  of  eating  it.  A  half  bushel 
of  sweet  potatoes,  as  measured  out  for  allowance,  by  repeated 
weighing,  averaged  43  Ibs. 


SEA  ISLAND   COTTON  PLANTING.  135 

The  process  of  preparing  Sea  Island  cotton  for  market,  after 
it  is  grown,  is  so  remarkable,  and  so  little  known,  that  I  will 
give  the  particulars. 

In  gathering  it  from  the  field,  great  care  is  taken  to  keep  it 
clean,  and  free  from  trash  and  stained  locks.  Upon  the  drying 
scaffold  it  is  sorted  over,  before  packing  away  in  the  cotton 
house.  "When  ginning,  in  fair  weather,  it  is  again  spread  upon 
the  scaffold,  and  assorted.  Some  run  it  through  a  machine 
called  a  "  trasher,"  that  whips  it  up  and  takes  out  sand  and 
loose  dirt.  It  then  goes  to  the  gins,  which  are  the  same  kind 
first  invented;  none  of  the  many  new  inventions  have  been 
found  efficient,  and  the  Whitney  gin  totally  unfit  for  Sea  Island 
cotton.  These  simple  machines  are  3^  feet  high,  2  feet  long, 
and  1  wide,  with  an  iron  fly-wheel  like  that  of  a  "  box  corn- 
sheller,"  upon  each  side,  working  a  pair  of  wooden  rollers, 
made  of  hard  oak,  about  ten  inches  long  and  nearly  an  inch 
in  diameter,  held  together  by  screws.  In  one  instance,  I  saw 
a  simple  spring-bearer  under  the  lower  roller,  and  an  iron  one 
on  top,  to  prevent  the  cotton  from  winding.  These  rollers 
wear  out,  and  have  to  be  replaced  by  new  ones  every  day.  I 
would  recommend  gutta-percha,  as  worthy  of  a  trial,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  woodr  as  something  tough  and  hard  is  required. 
The  rollers  are  moved  by  the  foot,  like  a  small  turning-lathe, 
the  operator  standing  at  one  end  of  the  gin,  feeding  the  cotton 
very  slowly  through  the  rollers,  leaving  the  smooth  black  seeds 
behind.  A  "task"  is  from  20  to  30  Ibs.  a-day,  according  to 
quality.  Twenty  or  thirty  of  these  little  machines  stand  in 
one  room ;  and,  strange  to  say,  none  of  those  who  have  at- 
tempted to  propel  them  by  other  power  have  succeeded.  One 
very  intelligent  gentleman  told  me  that  he  had  spent  $5,000 
in  trying  experiments  in  machinery  to  gin  this  kind  of  cotton. 

From  the  gins,  the  cotton  is  taken  to  the  mote-table,  where 
a  woman  looks  it  over  very  carefully  and  picks  out  every  little 


136 

mote  or  stained  lock,  as  fast  as  two  men  gin.  From  the  mote- 
table  it  goes  through  the  hands  of  a  general  superintendent, 
or  overlooker,  and  then  to  the  packer.  This  operation  is  done 
by  sewing  the  end  of  a  bag  over  a  hoop,  and  suspending  it 
through  a  hole  in  the  floor,  and  in  this  the  packer  stands  with 
a  wooden  or  iron  pestle,  packing  one  bale  of  about  350  Ibs. 
a-day,  as  fast  as  it  is  ginned ;  as  exposure  to  the  air  injures 
the  quality,  and  it  is  not  so  saleable  in  square  bales  packed  in 
presses,  as  it  is  in  hand-packed  bags. 

The  whole  operation  of  preparing  this  valuable  staple  for 
market,  requires  the  nicest  work  and  careful  watching  of  the 
operatives,  as  a  little  carelessness  injures  the  value  to  the  con- 
sumer. It  is  worth  from  30  to  50  cents  a  pound — more  than 
common  wool. 

The  cultivation  of  these  plantations  is  exceeding  neat — too 
much  so,  probably,  for  the  greatest  profit,  as  has  been  proved, 
I  think,  by  Mr.  Townsend,  in  the  use  of  ploughs  instead  of 
hoes.  Mr.  T.  has  also  proved  that  sugar-cane  will  grow  well, 
and  has  put  up  a  small  mill,  and  made  some  sugar.  The  carie 
matures  fifteen  joints,  and  granulates  well. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


DISEASES  AND  INSECTS  DESTRUCTIVE  OF  THE  COTTON 

PLANT. 


SECTION    I. — THE    COTTON-WORM,   ITS    HISTORY,    CHARACTER, 
VISITATIONS,  ETC. 

Correspondence  of  De  Bow's  Review. 

THE  following  are  some  remarks  on  the  nature  of  the  cotton- 
fly  of  1846,  being  a  sequel  to  a  dissertation  on  the  usefulness 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  insects,  written  last 
winter.  I  send  you  that  portion  only  which  treats  of  the  cot- 
ton-fly, as  falling  more  especially  within  the  province  of  your 
periodical.  This  manuscript  would  not  have  sought  a  place 
upon  your  pages  had  not  my  attention  been  drawn  to  it  by 
the  ill-founded  apprehensions  of  many  planters  concerning 
the  present  existence  of  the  cotton-worm  ;  an  event  utterly 
impossible,  for  if  it  makes  its  appearance  at  all  this  season,  it 
most  certainly  will  not  do  so  until  the  cotton  plant  has  attained 
its  greatest  maturity.  I  see  also  in  your  Review  a  communi- 
cation claiming  to  show  the  means  by  which  the  army-worm 
may  be  effectually  eradicated,  in  which  is  displayed  the  great- 
est ignorance  as  to  the  general  laws  which  govern  the  insect 
world.  The  writer  states  that  the  chrysalis  of  the  cotton-fly 
may  be  ploughed  up,  and  thus  destroyed,  &c.  Now  the«o 

[1ST] 


138  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

chrysalides  never  go  in  the  ground  at  all,  but  are  invariably 
attached  to  something  above  the  surface.  This  is  a  fact  that 
could  not  have  escaped  the  attentive  observer.  I  ask  how  a 
chrysalis  invariably  formed  above  ground,  and  incapable  of 
locomotion,  is  to  work  its  way  beneath  the  soil  ?  As  to  the 
insect  in  any  condition  secreting  itself  in  the  earth,  beneath 
the  bark  of  trees,  under  fallen  timber,  &c.,  it  is  altogether  a 
mistake,  if  not  an  absurdity,  and  easier  asserted  than  proved. 
In  treating  of  the  cotton-fly  in  the  following  pages,  my  aim 
has  been  to  found  my  assertions  upon  general  principles,  and 
though  the  practised  entomologist  may  find  some  inaccuracies 
in  the  detail,  yet  I  insist  upon  the  principles  as  universal  and 
incontrovertible. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  cotton-fly,  pre- 
mising, however,  before  entering  into  an  examination  of  this 
destructive  little  moth,  that  my  remarks  are  intended  less  to 
enlighten  others  than  to  elicit  information  from  some  one  who 
is  better  able  to  inform  the  public  mind  on  this  interesting 
subject.  As  for  myself,  I  must  confess  that  my  limited  ob- 
servations do  not  justify  me  in  coming  to  any  positive  conclu- 
sions, and  have  by  no  means  satisfied  my  curiosity ;  but  my 
information,  such  as  it  is,  I  give  in  the  following  pages,  with 
the  hope  that,  however  imperfect  it  may  prove  in  the  main, 
yet  that  some  mite  of  information  may  be  gleaned  from  it.  It 
is  impossible  to  think  for  a  moment  that  this  species  of  moth 
has  escaped  the  observation  of  entomologists,  for  the  plant 
upon  which  it  feeds  to  the  absolute  exclusion  of  all  others, 
(being  the  great  staple  production  of  many  countries,)  must 
have  brought  it  into  notice  at  various  times  and  at  various 
places.  From  its  univorous  nature,  (to  coin  a  word,)  it  must 
have  been  coeval  with  and  inseparable  from  the  existence  of 
the  cotton  plant.  My  principal  motive  for  broaching  this  sub- 
ject is  on  account  of  the  frequent  remarks  made  and  fears 


THE   COTTON-WORM.  130 

entertained,  that  the  army-worm  would  become  an  annual 
plague.  But  since  I  have  investigated  their  nature  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  these  fears  are  groundless,  and 
that  the  cotton-fly  can  never  become  naturalized  in  our 
climate. 

The  first  irruption,  as  I  am  informed  by  an  old  planter,  that 
this  insect  made  on  the  cotton  fields  of  Louisiana,  was  about 
the  year  1820,  when  its  progress  was  marked  with  the  same 
utter  destruction  of  the  cotton  crop  as  in  the  subsequent  years 
of  their  appearance.  It  then  disappeared  until  '40,  a  period 
of  twenty  years.  There  is  something  singular  and  unaccount- 
able in  the  periods  of  this  insect,  something  vastly  different 
from  the  periodicities  of  others  which  we  find  with  us,  for  they 
appear  to  be  governed  by  some  fixed  laws;  the  most  of  them 
are  annual,  very  few  biennial.  Now,  the  grasshopper,  house- 
fly and  mosquito  may  be  looked  for  at  the  return  of  summer 
with  as  much  confidence  and  certainty  as  we  look  for  the 
revolutions  of  the  seasons.  The  cicada  septendeccm  never 
fails  to  make  his  appearance  once  in  seventeen  years.  But 
who  can  tell  whether  the  cotton-fly  will  appear  next  year  or 
fifty  years  hence  ?  No  scourge,  whether  under  the  form  of  a 
devouring  insect  or  that  of  a  malignant  disease,  ever  became 
annual  in  one  particular  place.  Look  at  the  locust  of  Egypt ; 
suppose  that  voracious  insect  to  become  annual,  the  prolific 
valley  of  the  Nile,  once  the  granary  of  Asia  and  Europe, 
would  become  a  howling  desert.  Look  at  the  plague  that 
devastates  sometimes  Smyrna  and  Constantinople;  did  the 
cause  of  that  distemper  act  with  the  like  intensity  at  each 
return  of  the  season,  those  flourishing  cities  would  long  since 
have  been  numbered  with  Thebes  and  Memphis.  Let  the 
cholera  or  yellow  fever  prevail  in  New  Orleans  every  year, 
as  it  has  at  times,  and  that  great  emporium  of  the  Southwest 
would  become  a  puny  village.  Is  there  not  an  invisible  hand 


140 

that  sways  the  destinies  of  the  world  ?  a  hand  that  stays  the 
devastations  of  plague,  pestilence  and  famine  ?  The  cotton- 
fly  belongs  to  that  numerous  class  of  insects  known  to  natural- 
ists under  the  term  of  phalcna  or  moth  tribe.  The  following 
are  its  specific  characters,  without  the  technicalities  made  use 
of  by  the  naturalist,  so  far  as  they  could  well  be  avoided. 
Antenna,  or  little  horns  projecting  from  the  head,  setaceous  or 
terminating  in  a  point  like  a  bristle,  of  a  drab  color,  five  linos 
in  length,  being  about  half  the  length  of  the  body.  Wings 
incumbent,  deflexa;  under  surface  of  thorax  or  breast  of  a 
dull  silvery  white,  insensibly  terminating  on  the  abdomen,  and 
wings  in  a  color  tending  to  a  russet ;  the  upper  surface  of  the 
wings  and  back  varying  somewhat  in  different  individuals, 
but  generally  of  a  changeable  golden  color  with  ferruginous 
zigzag  lines  traversing  the  surface  transversely  ;  posterior 
margin  bordered  with  a  narrow  strip  of  pale  pink  color,  with 
small  denticulations.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the  wings  there 
are  two  black  spots,  one  on  each,  about  the  middle  of  the  base; 
legs  white,  the  four  posteriors  very  long  when  compared  with 
the  front  ones,  which  are  short  and  slender;  the  tail  simple. 
The  length  of  this  insect  is  about  nine  lines  from  head  to  tail. 
Expansion  of  the  wings,  at  the  tips,  about  the  same  measure- 
ment. To  conclude,  I  will  add  that  the  shape  of  this  moth 
is  very  much  like  that  of  an  isosceles  triangle,  with  the  line 
forming  the  base  inflected  inwardly  about  two  lines.  This 
peculiar  figure  is  produced  by  the  exterior  angle  of  the  upper 
wings  projecting  beyond  that  of  the  interior  angle. 

During  the  present  year,  the  time  that  my  observations 
commenced  for  the  first  time,  the  cotton-fly  again  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  the  latter  part  of  August,  at  first  making  but 
little  progress,  but  about  the  middle  of  September  their  num- 
bers increased  so  prodigiously,  that  in  many  instances  they 
would  eat  over  a  field  of  several  hundred  acres  in  four  or  eight 


THE   COTTON-WQftM.  141 

days.  The  number  of  eggs  deposited  by  the  female  is  un« 
certain ;  they  are  smaller  than  a  mustard  seed,  and  always  de- 
posited on  the  under  surface  of  the  leaf  during  the  night ;  in 
a  few  days  their  eggs  hatch.  The  worm,  at  first  a  minute 
living  point,  falls  immediately  to  work  to  devour  the  leaf;  its 
growth  is  rapid,  for  its  labors  cease  not  night  nor  day  until  it 
arrives  at  maturity ;  it  then  winds  itself  up  in  a  leaf  by 
means  of  a  'web  resembling  a  cobweb,  casts  its  skin  and 
changes  into  a  chrysalis,  in  which  state  it  remains  ten  days, 
then  it  bursts  the  thin  walls  of  the  chrysalis,  and  comes  forth  a 
perfect  insect.  In  turn,  it  begins  the  work  of  reproduction, 
deposits  its  eggs,  and  in  ten  more  days  it  dies. 

Thus  in  every  ten  days  there  is  an  additional  generation, 
and  they  go  on  increasing  ad  infinitum.  As  soon  as  the  leaves 
were  consumed  in  a  field  this  great  army  took  up  its  march : 
some  in  search  of  comfortable  quarters,  where  they  might  re- 
pose from  their  labors ;  others  on  a  foraging  expedition  to  re- 
plenish the  means  of  their  subsistence.  The  first  took  shelter 
in  the  first  leaf  they  met  with,  but  generally  they  proceeded 
as  far  as  the  fence,  a  barrier  beyond  which  they  never  trav- 
elled, where  they  found  a  plentiful  supply  of  leaves,  in  which 
they  enveloped  themselves.  The  second  division  extended 
their  march  much  farther,  sometimes  travelling  half  a  mile 
from  the  point  whence  they  started,  perishing  by  cart-loads 
for  the  want  of  food  and  the  many  casualties  to  which  their 
journey  subjected  them,  such  as  carriage  wheels,  heat  of  the 
sun,  and  the  rapacity  of  birds. 

Here  then  it  would  appear  was  an  end  of  the  cotton-worm 
for  a  season  at  least;  for  those  which  yet  remain  in  chrysalis 
in  the  fence-corners,  will  change  to  the  fly  in  ten  days.  But 
where  are  now  the  cotton  leaves  upon  which  the  pregnant  fe- 
male is  to  deposit  her  eggs  ?  There  is  not  one  left.  If  they 
are  placed  on  any  other  leaf  the  eggs  may  hatch,  but  the 


142  COTTON-PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

worm  must  perish,  as  we  have  just  seen  them  perishing  bj 
myriads  while  wending  their  way  through  a  various  and  lux- 
uriant herbage  in  search  of  that  food  intended  for  them  by 
nature.  In  ten  days  from  the  time  that  the  worm  becomes  a 
chrysalis  on  the  borders  of  the  cotton  fields,  a  host  of  flies  are 
seen  issuing  therefrom  :  they  go  forth  in  search  of  food  for 
their  forthcoming  progeny ;  now  it  is  to  be  found  their  days 
are  numbered,  in  ten  more  if  they  meet  with  no  cotton  leaves, 
they  themselves  must  die,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  whole 
race.  But  their  search  is  continued,  and  now,  when  the  weary 
insect  is  ready  to  finish  its  term  of  days,  a  tender  but  sparse 
foliage  crowns  the  leafless  twigs  of  the  cotton  plant.  On  them 
the  eggs  are  deposited:  they  hatch,  the  worm  eats,  returns 
again  to  its  chrysalis.  The  cotton  stalk  still  puts  forth  new 
leaves,  they  grow  and  expand  until  the  fields  again  look 
green ;  ten  days,  ay,  forty  elapse,  yet  there  is  not  a  worm  to 
be  found.  One  would  have  thought  that  this  second  crop  of 
leaves  would  scarcely  have  been  sufficient  for  a  single  repast 
for  them,  yet  the  food  that  they  so  lately  devoured  with  such 
voraciousness  is  now  left  untouched.  What  is  the  matter  ? 
Why  don't  they  eat,  their  food  is  spread  before  them  ?  Read 
on,  the  answer  will  be  found  in  the  sequel.  Let  us  examine 
the  cause.  In  nearly  every  fourth  leaf  we  find  a  chrysalis 
writhing  and  contorting  itself  at  the  touch.  Ah  !  here  is  the 
explanation  of  the  difficulty ;  this  is  no  ten  days'  chrysalis, 
but  that  in  which  it  is  to  hibernate,  possibly  for  one  winter, 
perchance  for  twenty.  Let  us  take  a  pocketful  of  these  home, 
and  place  them  beneath  tumblers,  and  wait  patiently  to  see 
what  they  will  produce.  If  I  had  found  a  treasure  my  delight 
could  not  have  been  greater  than  that  I  experienced  at  the 
idea  of  unravelling  this  mystery.  But  man  is  prone  to  disap- 
pointment, as  we  shall  soon  see.  About  the  15th  of  Novem- 
ber, the  insect  appeared,  but  mirdbile  dictu  !  as  different  from 


THE   COTTON-WORM.  143 

the  cotton-fly  as  it  is  possible  to  suppose  one  insect  could  dif- 
fer from  another.  It  belonged  altogether  to  a  different  family, 
a  description  of  which  I  give,  as  follows  : 

Antennas  filiform ;  black,  six  lines  in  length.  Palpi  four; 
two  external  and  two  intermediate,  the  external  white,  twice 
the  length  of  the  other  two,  in  shape  angular,  the  angle  pro- 
jecting externally.  The  two  middle  are  straight,  scarcely 
perceptible  over  a  strong  light ;  they  are  of  a  dark  color. 
Wings  four ;  hymenopterous ;  incumbent,  extending  to  and 
exactly  even  with  the  end  of  the  tail;  shape  of  the  wings, 
which  are  small  and  extremely  thin  and  delicate,  like  that 
of  a  fan.  Front  legs  half  the  length  of  the  posterior,  of  a 
uniform  orange  color;  the  intermediate  legs  very  little  longer 
than  the  anterior ;  the  thighs  of  a  deep  orange  color,  the  rest 
of  the  leg  annulated  with  orange  and  white.  The  posterior 
legs  long  in  comparison  to  the  others  ;  thighs  of  a  deep  orange 
color,  the  rest  of  the  leg  annulated  with  black  and  white, 
the  rings  being  larger  than  those  of  the  intermediate.  The 
trunk  is  a  uniform  shining  black,  as  would  be  the  upper  sur- 
face of  the  abdomen  also,  were  it  not  for  the  very  narrow  white 
bands  which  connect  the  black  scales  together,  giving  to  the  ab- 
domen an  annulated  appearance ;  these  white  lines  do  not  en- 
circle the  abdomen,  but  terminate  uniformly  on  the  sides.  On 
the  under  surface  of  the  abdomen  these  white  rings  again 
commence,  which  are  -much  larger  than  those  on  the  upper 
surface,  causing  the  abdomen  to  look  almost  white.  The  tail 
terminates  in  a  bifurcated  sheath,  enclosing  a  long  blunt  sting, 
projecting  considerably  beyond  the  tail,  and  forming  a  very 
prominent  feature  in  the  general  figure  of  the  insect.  This  is 
a  small,  slender  insect,  much  longer  than  the  honey  bee, 
but  not  so  thick. 

Now  it  is  evident  from  its  specific  character,  as  well  as  from 
its  parasitic  nature,  this  insect  belongs  to  that  numerous  class 


144  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

called  icJmeumons,  of  which  there  are  upwards  of  five  hundred 
species.  As  I  am  not  at  present  in  possession  of  any  prac- 
tical work  on  Entomology,  I  cannot  determine  the  species 
of  this  ichneumon,  but  to  show  that  it  differs  in  some  respects, 
from  the  family  to  which  it  belongs,  I  will  quote  a  paragraph 
from  a  work  before  me,  in  which  are  set  forth  some  peculiari- 
ties belonging  to  that  class  of  insects  as  a  genus  : 

"  The  whole  of  this  singular  genus  have  been  denominated 
parasitical,  on  account  of  the  very  extraordinary  manner  in 
which  they  provide  for  the  future  support  of  their  young.  The 
fly  feeds  on  the  honey  of  flowers,  and  when  about  to  lay  her 
eggs,  perforates  the  body  of  some  other  insect  or  its  larvae 
with  its  sting  or  instrument  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen,  and 
then  deposits  them.  The  eggs  in  a  few  days  hatch,  and  the 
young  larvae,  which  resemble  minute  white  maggots,  nourish 
themselves  with  the  juices  of  the  foster  parent,  which,  how- 
ever, continues  to  move  about  and  feed  until  near  the  time  of 
its  changing  into  a  chrysalis,  when  the  larvae  of  the  ichneu- 
mon creep  out  by  perforating  the  skin  in  various  places,  and 
each  spinning  itself  up  in  a  small  oval  silken  case,  changes 
into  a  chrysalis,  and  after  a  certain  period  they  emerge  in  the 
state  of  complete  ichneumons." 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  peculiarity  attached  to  this 
ichneumon  not  included  in  the  above  description ;  that  of  ap- 
propriating the  chrysalis,  as  well  as  the  larvae  of  other  insects, 
to  the  use  of  their  young.  All  ichneumons  that  I  ever  read  of, 
spin  their  own  chrysalis,  but  this  is  the  prince  of  parasites,  for 
not  content  with  eating  the  substance  of  his  neighbor,  he 
seizes  also  on  his  house.  So  far  as  I  have  read  concerning 
this  curious  family  of  insects,  this  is  a  nondescript.  As  an 
example  of  these  insects  called  ichneumons,  I  may  mention  the 
ichneumon  seductor,  or  dirt-dauber,  well  known  to  everybody 
as  that  wasp-like  insect,  which  builds  its  clay  houses  on  the 


THE   COTTON-WORM.  145 

walls,  and  particularly  in  the  recesses  of  windows,  to  the  great 
annoyance  of  the  tidy  housewife. 

Thus  is  answered  the  question,  why  the  cotton-fly  did  not 
again  eat  up  the  scant  foliage  which  subsequently  appeared 
on  the  stalks.  This  little  usurper  goes  forth  in  search  of 
"  whom  he  may  devour,"  and  as  soon  as  he  finds  a  house  built 
and  well  provisioned,  he  seizes  upon  it  for  his  posterity,  which 
he  does  in  the  following  manner:  When  he  finds  a  cotton- 
worm,  he  pierces  it  with  the  instrument  with  which  its  tail  is 
armed,  and  deposits  an  egg;  the  cotton-worm  soon  spins  itself 
up  into  its  case,  there  to  await  the  period  of  its  perfection, 
which  never  arrives,  for  soon  il\e  egg  of  the  ichneumon  hatches, 
and  falls  to  devouring  his  helpless  companion.  This  work  of 
extermination  continues  until  there  is  not  a  vestige  of  the  cot- 
ton-fly left.  I  venture  to  say,  while  I  am  now  writing  (1st 
of  December),  there  is  not  an  egg,  chrysalis,  or  fly,  in  the  con- 
fines of  the  United  States.  My  speculations  on  the  nature  and 
habits  of  the  fly  have  led  me  to  adopt  the  following  hypothesis  : 
That  it  is  a  native  of  tropical  climates,  and  never  can  pass  a 
single  winter  beyond  them,  consequently,  never  can  become 
naturalized  in  the  United  States,  or  any  where  else  where  the 
cotton  plant  is  not  perennial,  for  nature  has  made  no  provision 
by  which  they  can  survive  more  than  ten  or  twelve  days, 
therefore  they  must  perish  wherever  the  cotton  plant  perishes 
during  a  period  of  six  months.  That  wherever  they  have  pre- 
vailed in  our  cotton-growing  regions,  it  is  when  they  have  become 
very  numerous,  and  consumed  all  the  cotton  in  their  native 
climes,  and  then  go  in  search  of  their  food  in  more  northern 
climates.  It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  this  happens  often, 
but  the  same  remark  will  hold  in  regard  to  the  cotton-fly  as  it 
will  to  many  other  insects,  that  owing  to  some  unknown  cause, 
they  become  exceedingly  numerous,  but  at  long  and  irregular 
intervals.  The  locust  has  already  been  noticed  as  an  example, 

7 


146  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

and  many  more  might  be  cited.  I,  however,  will  mention 
another  to  which  I  was  an  eye-witness.  About  eighteen  years 
ago,  the  green  or  blow-fly  became  so  numerous  that  thousands 
of  animals  perished  by  them,  also  some  human  beings.  The 
least  spot  of  blood,  the  moisture  of  the  mouth,  eyes  or  nose, 
was  sufficient  to  cause  a  deposit  of  eggs.  Sick  persons,  par- 
ticularly those  who  had  not  proper  attention,  suffered.  Several 
negro  children,  who  came  under  my  notice,  fell  a  sacrifice 
to  them ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  many  others  were 
saved.  In  these  instances,  the  fly  deposited  the  eggs  within 
the  nostrils,  where  they  soon  caused  death  by  producing  in- 
flammation of  the  brain.  This  fly  is  annual,  and  scarcely  ever 
deposits  its  eggs  on  an  animal,  except  it  be  the  victim  of  a 
running  sore ;  but  at  the  period  alluded  to  above,  it  appeared 
that  there  was  scarcely  animal  flesh  enough  to  feed  the  mag- 
gots of  this  numerous  host.  It  is  but  once  within  my  recol- 
lection that  I  have  witnessed  this  phenomenon  ;  and  neither 
before  nor  since  have  I  heard  of  such  ravages  of  the  green-fly. 
Why  they  should  have  existed  in  such  incredible  numbers  at 
the  time  referred  to,  is  a  question  not  to  be  easily  answered. 

There  are  three  circumstances  upon  which  I  found  my 
arguments  in  support  of  my  hypothesis  of  the  cotton-fly : 
First,  Nature  has  made  no  provision  by  which  it  could  survive 
the  winter  season.  Second,  The  irregularity  of  their  appear- 
ance. Third,  Their  progress  from  south  to  north,  and  from 
west  to  east. 

It  may  be  remarked,  on  proposition  first,  that  all  insects  in- 
cluded within  the  genus  phalcna,  hibernate  in  the  state  of  a 
chrysalis,  therefore  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  the  cotton.fly  to 
hibernate  in  that  manner,  as  they  remain  but  ten  days  in 
chrysalis.  The  fly  does  not  hibernate,  for  the  period  of  their 
existence  is  but  ten  or  twelve  days.  It  cannot  be  in  the  state 
of  the  egg,  for  it  is  a  law  equally  inflexible  with  regard  to  this 


THE   COTTON-WORM.  147 

tribe,  that  the  egg  must  be  deposited  on  the  leaf  on  which  the 
larvae  are  to  feed  ;  and  the  reason  is  very  plain,  for  these  larvae, 
when  first  hatched,  are  minute  living  points,  of  an  exceedingly 
helpless  nature,  almost  devoid  of  locomotion,  or  possessing  it 
in  too  small  a  degree  to  enable  it  to  go  in  search  of  its  food. 
But  let  us  suppose  that  the  egg  does  survive  the  winter;  how 
does  it  happen  that  when  the  worm  first  makes  it  appearance, 
it  is  found  on  the  very  summits  of  the  cotton,  instead  of  the 
lower  branches  ?  parts  that  it  would  reach  the  soonest,  if  it 
proceeded  from  the  ground  upwards. 

The  plialena  mosi,  or  silk-worm,  is  an  insect  of  the  same 
genus  as  the  cotton-fly,  and  whose  habitudes  are  very  much 
the  same  as  the  latter,  tropical  in  its  nature,  confining  itself  to 
a  particular  vegetable,  the  different  species  of  mulberry,  and 
being  short-lived  in  the  chrysalis,  remaining  in  this  state  but 
fifteen  days.  At  the  approach  of  winter,  when  the  mulberry 
trees  cast  their  leaves,  and  remain  leafless  for  many  months, 
these  insect,  in  our  climate,  would  all  perish,  were  they  left 
to  themselves.  But  art,  in  this  respect,  has  triumphed  over 
nature ;  for  the  silk  grower  at  a  certain  season  gathers  a  parcel 
of  eggs,  and  places  them  in  a  cold  dark  place  until  the  mul- 
berry tree  shall  again  afford  them  food  in  the  spring,  and  in 
this  manner  they  are  perpetuate^,  and  this  is  the  only  possible 
way  that  they  could  be  preserved  here.  They  are  like  some 
tender  exotic,  which  flourishes  as  long'  as  the  warmth  of  the 
hot-house  affords  them  a  congenial  atmosphere,  but  perishes 
if  left  to  buffet  the  rigors  of  winter. 

Proposition  second.  Here  I  contend  that  when  an  insect 
is  a  native  of,  or  naturalized,  in  any  country,  they  are  always 
governed  by  some  invariable  laws  which  determine  their  ap- 
pearance. The  grasshopper  is  annual,  coming  every  spring  or 
summer ;  the  locust  of  our  climate  septem-decennial,  appear- 
ing once  in  seventeen  years ;  but  the  cotton-fly  has  no  regular 


148  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

periods  of  return,  showing  that  when  it  reaches  our  climate,  it 
is  by  some  casualty. 

In  proposition  third,  I  maintain  that  if  the  cotton-fly  so- 
journs here  during  the  winter  or  winters,  when  it  did  appear 
at  all,  it  would  do  so  simultaneously  through  the  whole  cotton 
district,  instead  of  which  we  see  it  progressing  regularly  from 
south  to  north,  and  from  west  to  east. 

Such  are  the  speculations  that  I  have  entertained  concern- 
ing the  cotton-worm,  from  which  I  conclude  that  it  originates 
in  South  America,  and  reaches  us  through  Mexico,  and  never 
can  become  a  denizen  of  our  soil. 

Bayou  Sara,  June  1,  18-17. 


SECTION   II. — THE   RUST   AMONG  THE    COTTON. 
From  the  American  Cotton  Planter. 

DURING  my  geological  tour  through  some  of  the  eastern 
counties  of  our  State,  I  have  frequently  (more  especially  in 
the  prairies,)  been  asked,  "  If  I  could  suggest  a  remedy  for  the 
rust  on  the  cotton  plant."  I  have  invariably  stated  my  views 
to  all  those  who  inquired  ;  but  as  that  question  is  one  of  gene- 
ral interest,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  repeat  them  here,  on  the 
pages  of  a  popular  journal,  devoted  to  southern  planting  and 
farming. 

The  boll-worm  and  the  rust  are  decidedly  the  arch-enemies 
of  the  cotton  plant ;  and  I  am  very  much  afraid  that  the  first 
will,  in  the  course  of  comparatively  a  few  years,  increase  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  destroy  two-thirds  of  the  whole  cotton 
crop,  render  the  cultivation  of  that  plant  unprofitable,  and  ruin 
in  that  way  our  southern  El-dorado.  A  remedy  for  this  scourge 
of  the  cotton  planter,  which  now  destroys  fully  one-third  of 


THE  RUST  AMONG  THE   COTTON.  149 

our  cotton  crop,  although  it  made  its  first  appearance  not  more 
than  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  can,  with  our  present  ignorance 
about  the  nature  of  that  insect,  possibly  not  now  be  found.  In 
the  interest  of  the  southern  planter,  I  have  tried  to  draw  the 
attention  not  only  of  the  agriculturists  of  the  southern  States, 
but  also  that  of  Mississippi,  to  that  all-important  subject;  and 
prominent  southern  editors,  of  this  Cotton  Planter,  and  DeBoitfs 
Review,  have  kindly  assisted  me  in  promulgating  my  sugges- 
tions ;  but  so  little  have  I  succeeded  in  arousing  the  attention 
of  those  societies,  that  my  disinterested  communications  have 
not  even  elicited  a  satisfactory  consideration  and  answer. 

If  a  remedy  against  the  increase  and  ravages  of  the  boll- 
worm  cannot  now  be  devised,  ®n  account  of  our  ignorance  of 
the  nature  of  that  insect,  the  case  is  different  with  the  rust  of 
the  cotton  plant.  The  nature  of  this  rust  is  easily  found  out 
by  the  aid  of  a  sufficiently  powerful  microscope,  and  known  to 
be  nothing  else  but  a  parasitical  fungus,  growing  upon  the 
stock  and  branches  of  the  cotton  plant.  This  fungus  is  pro- 
duced by  a  diseased  state  of  the  plant,  caused  by  a  stagnation 
in  its  growth,  and  a  consequent  relaxation  in  the  circulation  of 
the  fluid  or  sap  of  the  plant.  Such  a  stagnation  in  the  growth 
of  the  cotton  plant  can  be  produced  by  an  unfavorable  season, 
it  is  true,  and  rust  will  appear  in  such  cases  everywhere,  even 
in  the  freshest  and  best  kinds  of  soil.  Such  cases  are  beyond 
the  control  of  the  best  agriculturist,  and  belong  to  those  chances 
which  he  has  to  bear ;  but  such  cases  are  extremely  rare — of 
one  hundred  cases  of  rust  among  the  cotton,  perhaps  scarcely 
one  is  owing  to  an  unfavorable  season,  and  ninety-nine  to  a 
defective  cultivation ;  and  these  cases  are  consequently  under 
the  control  of  the  agriculturist. 

The  rust  appears  only  very  seldom  on  fresh  land ;  but  most, 
generally  on  such  as  has  been  for  some  time  under  cultivation, 
and  is  exhausted  by  abuse,  or  an  unnatural  or  defective  man- 


150  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

agement.  Agriculture  is,  in  our  southern  States,  not  yet 
carried  on  as  an  art  and  a  science,  which  it  is  indeed,  but,  un- 
fortunately, only  as  a  mechanical  business,  which  we  continue 
to  execute  in  that  rude  manner  as  it  has  been  handed  to  us  by 
our  ancestors,  and  modify  it  only  according  to  our  convenience. 
We  ask  every  thing  from  Nature,  and  are  unwilling  to  do  more 
than  is  .absolutely  necessary.  The  unavoidable  consequence 
is,  that  in  a  very  few  years  we  exhaust  the  best  of  our  lands ; 
they  then  refuse  to  yield  adequate  crops,  and  produce  diseases 
of  the  vegetables  which  blast  our  hopes. 

A  plant  does  not  only  draw  its  food  from  the  atmosphere  by 
means  of  its  foliage,  absorbing  the  oxygen,  nitrogen,  carbon, 
and  ammonia,  which  the  atmosphere  contains,  but  it  requires 
also  a  certain  amount  of  the  inorganic  constituents  of  the  soil 
in  which  it  roots ;  it  lives,  therefore,  mostly  at  the  expense 
of  that  soil.  Every  plant  requires  always  the  same  nourish- 
ment ;  the  consequence  is,  that  if  the  same  plant  be  cultivated 
or  live  a  long  time  on  the  same  soil,  it  must,  in  the  course  of 
time,  be  entirely  deprived  of  those  substances  which  that  plant 
requires  for  its  growth.  May  I  illustrate  this  by  an  example  ? 

According  to  an  analysis  of  the  ashes  of  the  cotton  plant, 
(made  in  one  of  the  northern  colleges,  and  which  I  give  for 
what  it  is  worth,)  it  contains,  in  100  parts  : 

1.  Potash,  29.58 

2.  Lime,    -  24.34 

3.  Magnesia,      -  3.73 

4.  Chloride,       -  ...           0.65 

5.  Phosphoric  Acid,  -                             34.92 

6.  Sulphuric  Acid,  -                               3.54 

7.  Silica,  -  3.24 

Potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  lime,  are  therefore  the  principal 
ingredients  of  the  cotton  plant ;  and,  in  order  to  live  and  sue- 


THE  BUST  AMONG  THE  COTTON.          151 

ceed,  it  must  consume  them  in  sufficient  quantities.  The  at- 
mosphere contains  none  of  those  contents,  consequently  the 
whole  amount  of  them  must  come  from  the  soil  in  which  the 
plant  roots.  If,  now,  the  cotton  plant  be  cultivated  for  a 
number  of  years  in  succession  on  a  body  of  land,  that  land 
must  be  entirely  deprived  of  those  ingredients,  at  least  of  that 
part  which  is  in  solution.  As  soon  as  the  quantity  begins  to 
become  insufficient,  even  only  of  one  of  those  ingredients,  the 
cotton  plant  will  no  longer  grow  vigorously ;  a  stagnation  of 
its  growth  must  take  place  until  the  insufficiency  has  been 
supplied  ;  such  a  stagnation  produces  diseases  of  all  kinds,  and 
among  them  the  rust. 

A  sovereign  remedy  against  the  rust  is,  therefore/  the  intro- 
duction of  a  system  of  agriculture  in  conformity  with  Nature, 
and  with  the  science  which  has  been  abstracted  from  a  long 
practice,  and  the  investigation  of  the  nature  of  plants  and  soils 
by  chemical  analysis. 

If  we  observe  Nature  closely,  we  will  find  that  if  certain 
vegetables,  which  have  grown  for  a  long  time  upon  the  same 
soil,  are  removed  from  that  soil,  the  same  kind  will  not  be  re- 
produced spontaneously,  but  quite  different  genera  and  species 
will  appear ;  the  simple  reason  is,  because  the  soil  has  been 
exhausted  of  such  ingredients  as  that  kind  of  vegetables  require 
for  its  growth  ;  but  there  are  still  other  ingredients  in  it  which 
are  suitable  for  other  plants,  of  a  different  genus  and  species, 
and  such  will  appear  spontaneously  upon  the  soil,  and  grow 
luxuriantly.  Nature  points,  therefore,  to  a  rotation  of  crops 
in  agriculture ;  and  if  we  obey  Nature  and  observe  such  a  ro- 
tation— if  we  supply,  from  time  to  time,  those  ingredients  which 
are  most  necessary  for  the  growth  of  our  crops,  our  lands  will 
never  be  exhausted ;  on  the  contrary,  they  will  improve,  and 
the  vegetables  which  we  cultivate  will  grow  luxuriantly,  with- 
out a  stagnation  in  their  growth, — they  will  remain  free  from 


152  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

all  those  diseases  caused  by  such  a  stagnation,  consequently 
also  from  the  rust,  and  yield  an  abundant  crop. 

Not  having  been  accustomed  to  systematic  manuring  of  oui 
land,  we  think  it  very  difficult,  laborious,  and  even  expensive. 
It  is  indeed  not  so  ;  it  is  much  less  troublesome  and  expensive 
than  clearing  and  taking  in  new  land  when  the  old  is  ex- 
hausted and  unfit  for  further  cultivation ;  but  we  are  accus 
tomed  to  the  latter,  and  not  accustomed  to  the  former,  therefore 
we  are  prejudiced  against  it,  and  imagine  it  to  be  much  more 
troublesome  than  it  really  is.  In  some  of  our  States  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  procure  manure,  and  some  trouble  may  arise  from  that 
circumstance ;  but,  indeed,  if  we  introduce  a  manner  of  agri- 
culture suitable  to  our  soil  and  climate,  much  manure  is  not 
required  to  keep  our  land  in  constant  fertility.  The  first 
requisite  for  such  an  agriculture,  is  to  prepare  our  soil  well,  to 
plough  and  harrow  it  in  such  a  manner  that  the  soil  becomes 
perfectly  mellow,  to  allow  the  vegetables  which  we  sow  or 
plant  in  it  to  take  root,  and  the  atmosphere  to  operate  upon  it 
and  have  a  dissolving  influence  upon  its  contents. 

If  we  sow  our  wheat  upon  entirely  unprepared  land,  from 
which  the  corn  or  cotton  has  just  been  harvested,  without 
ploughing  and  harrowing  it  before,  and  bury  the  seed  with 
brush-wood,  as  the  uncivilized  Indian  would  do,  unprovided 
with  the  implements  of  enlightened  agriculture,  it  is  of  course 
impossible  to  reap  an  adequate  and  remunerating  crop  ;  it 
may  perhaps  be  adequate,  not  to  the  forces  of  our  land,  which 
have  not  been  developed,  but  only  to  the  rude  and  imperfect 
manner  of  our  agriculture.  Land  cultivated  in  such  a  manner 
has  neither  been  exposed  to  the  dissolving  influence  of  the 
rays  of  the  sun  and  the  atmosphere,  nor  has  it  been  made 
mellow  enough,  and  a  few  grains  of  the  seed  will  only  fall  in 
such  a  situation  where  they  can  germinate  and  root  easily ; 
the  necessary  consequence  will  be,  that  the  wheat  stands  too 


THE   RUST  AMONG  THE   COTTON.  153 

thin,  but  even  for  the  thin  stand  the  soil  is  not  sufficiently 
worked,  and  its  forces  not  developed ;  diseases  of  all  kind  of 
the  plant  will  appear,  and  the  crop  be  a  very  poor  one.  Such 
an  agriculture  is  nothing  but  a  rude  attempt  to  save  labor,  but 
it  is  only  done  at  the  expense  of  the  crop,  and  if  labor  be 
saved,  the  value  of  the  crop  is  certainly  most  unproportion- 
ably  diminished ;  hence  it  happens  then  that  even  from  fine 
land,  which  ought  to  yield  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  bushels 
of  wheat,  an  average  crop  of  from  six  to  twelve  bushels  can 
only  be  made.  Let  me  ask  if  a  little  more  labor  would  not  be 
well  paid,  if,  with  that  additional  labor,  consisting  of  plough- 
ing and  harrowing  the  land  before  we  sow  the  wheat,  and 
then  again  harrowing  the  seed  under,  we  can  more  than 
double  the  crop  ?  The  reward  will  certainly  appear  to  be  an 
ample  one,  if  we  consider  that,  with  such  a  manner  of  agricul- 
ture, half  the  land  is  sufficient  to  produce  the  same  quantity 
of  wheat  as  the  double  quantity  with  a  rude  and  imperfect 
cultivation. 

Our  cotton  land  is  generally  better  prepared  than  our  land 
for  small  grain,  but,  by  its  cultivation,  we  commit  especially 
the  grave  error,  to  continue  for  a  number  of  years  to  plant 
the  cotton  in  the  same  land,  instead  of  introducing  a  rotation 
of  our  crops.  With  such  a  rotation,  a  little  manure  is  all-suf- 
ficient to  keep  the  land  always  in  a  fine  state  of  fertility,  and 
to  improve  instead  of  exhausting  it.  Let  us  see  how  such  a 
rotation  can  be  most  profitably  managed  : 

Our  crop  here  in  the  southern  States  consists,  principally, 
in  cotton,  corn,  wheat,  oats,  peas,  or  small  grain  in  general, 
and  potatoes.  Half  of  our  land,  at  least,  is  generally  planted 
in  cotton,  and  the  other  half  in  corn,  small  grains,  and  pota- 
toes. Commencing  now  with  a  fresh  body  of  land  of  one 
hundred  acres,  we  may  plant  the  first  year  fifty  acres  in  cot- 
ton, twenty-five  in  corn,  and  twenty-five  in  small  grains  and 


154  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

potatoes.  The  second  year  we  plant  the  cotton  on  those  fifty 
acres  from  which  corn,  small  grains  and  potatoes  have  been 
harvested,  and,  vice  versa,  the  corn,  small  grains  and  potatoes 
on  the  cotton  land.  The  third  year  we  plant  the  cotton  again 
on  the  same  fifty  acres  on  which  it  grew  the  first  year — the 
corn  on  the  land  on  which  the  small  grains  and  potatoes 
grew  the  first  year,  and  the  small  grains  and  potatoes  on  the 
land  which  produced  corn  the  first  year.  Every  part  of  the 
land  has  then  borne  in  succession  all  the  different  vegetables 
of  our  crop,  and  half  of  it  has  borne  our  principal  article,  cot- 
ton, twice.  The  fourth  year  we  let  twenty-five  acres  of  this 
last-mentioned  land  rest,  and  fallow  it,  and  divide  the  remain- 
ing seventy -five  acres  into  three  parts,  viz. :  thirty-seven  and 
one-half  acres  for  cotton,  eighteen  and  three-fourths  for  corn, 
and  eighteen  and  three-fourths  for  small  grains  and  potatoes, 
selecting  the  cotton  land  from  those  fifty  acres  which  have 
only  once  borne  a  crop  of  cotton.  If  we  observe  such  a  change, 
and  fallow  one-quarter  of  our  land  every  year,  so  that  after 
four  years  every  portion  of  the  one  hundred  acres  has  had  a 
year  of  rest,  we  can  cultivate  our  fresh  land,  according  to  its 
quality,  from  eight  to  twelve,  perhaps  from  sixteen  to  twenty 
years  without  manure,  and  we  will,  with  such  a  rotation, 
scarcely  perceive  any  decrease  of  its  fertility.  After  the  lapse 
of  those  years,  we  not  only  keep  up  its  fertility,  but  even 
increase  it,  if  we  manure  those  twenty-five  acres  which 
have  been  fallowed.  After  the  lapse  of  four  years,  all  our 
land  has  in  that  way  been  manured.  Such  a  system  of  agri- 
culture is  easily  introduced ;  and  followed  up  with  care  and 
without  much  labor  and  expense,  it  will  not  only  not  exhaust 
the  land,  but  increase  its  fertility;  it  will  render  agriculture 
more  easy,  the  land  becoming  more  and  more  mellow  and  dis- 
integrated and  deprived  of  those  stumps  of  trees  and  roots 
which  obstruct  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  so  much ;  and  lastly, 


THE   RUST   AMONG   THE    COTTON.  155 

it  renders  the  taking  in  of  new  land  perfectly  superfluous, 
unless  we  increase  our  workers.  The  continual  fertility  of  the 
land  will  prevent  a  stagnation  in  the  growth  of  our  crops ; 
there  will  be  little  or  no  disease  among  them,  and  especially 
the  rust  of  the  cotton  plant  will  seldom  appear,  and  only  then 
when  the  unfavorable  seasons  produce  it. 

Such  a  rotation  of  our  crops  has  another  most  salutary 
and  remunerating  influence  upon  our  cotton  field — it  will  most 
certainly  diminish  the  ravages  of  the  boll-worm,  and  the  ene- 
mies of  the  cotton  plant  in  general.  The  boll-worm  is  a  cater- 
pillar, the  Iarva3  of  a  lepidopterous  insect  or  butterfly  of  the 
night-swarming  family,  called  Noctua,  which,  as  all  the  insects 
of  that  tribe,  undergo,  after  having  been  hatched,  three  dis- 
tinct metamorphoses,  or  changes.  The  insect  originates  in  the 
form  of  a  small  egg,  not  near  as  large  as  the  head  of  the  small- 
est pin ;  the  hatching  of  this  egg,  after  a  few  days,  produces 
the  worm  or  caterpillar ;  this,  when  full  grown,  changes  into 
a  chrysalis  or  cocoon,  and  this,  after  ten  or  twelve  days,  is 
transformed  into  the  perfect  insect,  butterfly  or  noctua.  The 
individual  natural  history  of  the  boll-worm  is  as  yet  very 
little  known,  but  having  the  generalities  of  its  nature  in  com- 
mon with  other  insects  of  the  same  tribe,  which  are  better 
known  to  entomologists,  it  must  be,  during  the  winter  and 
the  whole  time  when  there  is  no  food  for  it,  either  in  the 
state  of  an  egg,  which  is  indeed  most  probable,  or  in  the  state 
of  a  chrysalis  or  cocoon ;  it  can  possibly  not  hibernate  as  a 
perfect  insect  or  butterfly,  not  finding  any  food  until  late  in 
summer.  The  eggs  or  cocoons  that  hibernate  must  be  hidden 
in  the  neighborhood  where  the  perfect  insect  lived,  conse 
quently  in  the  cotton  fields  or  near  them.  If  such  fields  are 
not  planted  again  in  cotton  next  spring,  the  largest  number 
of  the  brood  must  necessarily  perish,  the  little  caterpillars 
not  finding  any  aliment  suitable  for  them,  and  not  being  able 


156 

to  creep  to  other  cotton  fields.  A  generally  introduced  rota- 
tion of  crops  must  accordingly  greatly  diminish  this  dreadful 
enemy  of  our  principal  southern  staple.  We  perceive,  there- 
fore, how  beneficial  such  a  rotation  of  crops  must  be;  it  not 
only  prevents  the  most  pernicious  diseases  of  the  cotton  plant, 
but  also  the  ravages  of  its  most  dangerous  enemy,  the  boll- 
worm,  and  will  certainly  save  us  the  one-third  of  the  whole 
crop. 

In  our  prairie  soils,  and  wet  and  heavy  soils  in  general,  there 
is  another  cause  which  produces  the  rust  among  the  cotton  ; 
this  is  the  superabundance  of  moisture  and  the  stagnation  of 
the  rain-water  in  the  field.  It  is  this  which  renders  the  prairie 
soil  especially  subject  to  the  rust  of  the  cotton  plant.  Too 
much  moisture  and  stagnant  water,  heated  by  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  produce  immediately  a  stagnation  in  the  growth  of  that 
vegetable  ;  it  does  not  allow  it  to  imbibe  enough  of  that  solid 
matter  necessary  for  its  growth,  especially  as  this  plant  is 
much  more  adapted  to  dry  and  light,  than  to  wet  and  heavy 
soil ;  if  we,  therefore,  will  plant  cotton  in  heavy  and  wet,  es- 
pecially in  prairie  soil,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  this  soil 
should  be  as  much  as  possible  protected  against  superabund- 
ance of  moisture  and  stagnation  of  rain-water.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  a  vigorous  system  of  draining ;  by  ditching  where 
it  is  necessary,  and  leading  the  water,  by  means  of  deep  fur- 
rows, into  the  ditches.  In  fact,  in  no  soil  a  system  of  ditching 
is  more  necessary  than  in  the  prairie  soil.  If  it  is  neglected 
even  only  in  one  place,  and  the  rust  makes  its  appearance,  if 
only  in  that  one  place,  it  will  soon  spread  over  the  largest 
portion  of  the  field,  it  being  an  infective  disease ;  the  minute 
seeds  of  the  microscopic  mushroom  ripen  quick,  and  are  car- 
ried by  the  slightest  breeze  all  over  the  field. 

University  of  Mississippi,  Dec.  23, 1854.  L.   IIAEPEE. 


INSECT  PHYSIOLOGY — THE   BOLL-WORM.  157 


SECTION   III. — INSECT  PHYSIOLOGY — THE   BOLL-WORM. 

^ 

MR.  EDITOR  : — I  have  concluded  to  write  you  an  article  or 
two  on  the  insects  which  are  injurious  to  the  agriculturist  of 
the  South.  I  will  begin  with  what  is  vulgarly  called  the  bol/- 
worm,  a  caterpillar,  which,  for  the  regularity  of  its  visits  and 
length  of  time  it  remains,  we  may  consider  as  fixed  upon  us. 
This  is  decidedly  the  most  destructive  insect  that  feeds  upon 
the  cotton  plant  in  this  climate.  Insects  of  some  sort  prey 
upon  almost  every  species  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  we 
must  learn  the  habits  and  natural  history  of  insects,  if  we  wish 
to  discover  the  most  effectual  remedies  to  prevent  their  depre- 
dations. This  insect  is  an  anomaly  in  the  natural  history  of 
insects,  for  it  is  much  more  destructive  to  the  plant,  cotton 
(gossypium),  for  which  it  was  never  made,  than  to  the  one  to 
which  it  naturally  belongs,  corn  (zea  mays'].  If  I  am  right 
in  my  supposition,  this  insect  is  the  caterpillar  we  find  in  the 
end  of  ears  of  corn,  eating  the  silk,  and  some  little  of  the  corn. 
This  insect  is  at  the  north  as  well  as  at  the  south — in  fact,  it 
is  wherever  the  corn  grows,  and  will  never  depredate  upon  the 
cotton  plant,  unless  through  necessity.  The  moth  of  this 
caterpillar  belongs  to  the  order  Icpidoptera.  The  character  of 
this  order  is  (according  to  the  system  of  Dr.  Leach)  wings 
four,  covered  with  scales,  tongue  spiral,  filiform.  Linnaeus  divid- 
ed this  order  into  three  generations, papileo  (butterfly),  sphinx 
(hawk-moth)  and  phalcena  (moth),  which  were  characterized 
by  the  form  of  their  antennae.  Genus  Phalaena,  antennas 
moniliform,  shorter  than  thorax,  palpi  very  small  and  very 
hairy.  Wings  elliptic,  equal,  long.  To  this  genus  belongs 
the  group  agrotidida,  the  larvae  of  which  lies  concealed  in  the 
ground,  and  feed  by  night  (as  the  cut-worm)  ;  and  the  group, 


158  COTTON 

mamestradce,  the  larvae  of  which  lives  exposed,  and  transform 
in  the  ground,  as  the  cabbage  caterpillar.  The  insect  I  will 
call  Phalosna  Zea  (corn-moth)  until  it  is  more  correctly  class- 
ed, belongs,  perhaps,  to  the  latter  group. 

The  P.  Zea,  or  corn-moth,  is  of  a  pale  yellow  or  a  shining 
ash  color — length  of  body  and  wings  one  and  one-eighth  of  an 
inch,  the  wings  expand  two  inches  horizontal,  the  upper  wings 
covering  the  lower ;  below  the  centre  and  near  the  border  of 
the  upper  wings,  are  two  dark  spots;  there  are  some  two  or 
three  indistinct  ones  on  each  upper  wing,  end  of  the  wing 
whitish,  a  wavy  dark  band  near  the  border.  Thorax  slightly 
convex,  downy ;  abdomen  color  of  wings,  downy ;  proboscis 
folded  spirally  underneath,  double,  half-inch  long ;  eyes  large, 
clear,  yellowish  green.  Legs  six,  antennae  fusiform,  palpi 
very  hairy,  flies  only  late  in  the  evening  and  at  night,  lies 
concealed  in  the  day  in  jams  of  the  fence,  around  stumps,  and 
in  the  grass  and  weeds,  flies  rapid  and  low. 

The  Maize  Phalsena  pairs  with  its  mate  as  soon  as  found 
(some  insects  of  this  order  have  a  remarkable  instinct  that 
way) ;  the  moth  lays  about  750  eggs,  on  the  fourth  day, 
about  the  size  of  cabbage  seed,  of  light  cream  color,  and  dies 
in  three  or  four  days  afterwards.  The  moth  sucks  the  nectar 
from  the  bloom,  or  rather  between  the  calyx  and  petals.  In 
confinement,  they  will  suck  water  sweetened  with  sugar.  The 
eggs  of  the  first  brood  are  laid  on  the  silks  of  corn ;  if  no  silks, 
on  the  top  of  the  corn ;  you  may  very  often  find  them  in  the 
northern  corn  we  plant  for  early  roasting  ears.  The  ova  or 
egg  will  hatch  in  two  or  three  days.  The  larvae  feeds  upon  the 
silk  and  the  grains  of  the  corn,  remains  in  the  ear  for  fourteen 
days,  comes  out  and  goes  into  the  earth  about  three  inches, 
and  is  transformed  into  a  chrysalis  of  bright,  shining  mahog- 
any color,  conical  in  shape,  seven-eighths  to  one  inch  in  length; 
it  remains  in  the  ground  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  days,  when 


INSECT  PHYSIOLOGY — THE   BOLL-WORM.  159 

its  second  transformation  takes  place,  and  it  comes  out  the 
moth  I  have  above  described. 

The  second  brood  comes  out  from  the  15th  of  July  to  10th 
of  August ;  it  now  finds  but  little  corn  to  go  to  (at  least  in  its 
section  of  country),  and  necessity  compels  it  to  deposit  their 
eggs  on  the  cotton  plant.  Their  eggs  are  laid- on  the  top  bud, 
and  the  bud  of  the  end  of  the  limbs;  sometimes,  when  very 
numerous  and  late  in  the  season,  on  the  leaves  promiscuously. 
If  at  the  time  of  this  deposit  the  weather  is  dry,  and  the  sun 
very  hot,  the  ova  or  egg  becomes  abortive.  Hence  the  phrase, 
"  no  worms  of  a  dry  year." 

However,  during  the  hottest  and  diyest  season,  enough  will 
escape  to  do  some  damage.  Thousands  of  the  eggs  and  young 
larvee  are  destroyed  by  ants,  and  the  ichneumoniadge.  The 
larva  spins  around  it  a  thin  web,  when  first  hatched,  for 
protection  from  ants  and  other  enemies,  and  will  swing  itself 
by  a  thread,  if  it  fall  from  your  hand  when  first  hatched,  say 
five  or  six  days  old — sheds  its  skin  until  eight  or  ten  days  old 
— it  descends  from  the  tops  of  the  cotton  and  the  ends  of  the 
limbs  in  two  or  three  days  after  being  hatched  out,  begins  its 
depredations  on  the  forms  by  eating  through  the  calyx  in  the 
petal  (so  small  is  the  place  that  y»u  can  hardly  discern  it), 
which  makes  the  bracts  or  floral  leaf  turn  yellow,  and  the  form 
falls  off;  the  larva  does  not  wait  for  this,  but  is  off  to  another 
and  to  another,  until  it  destroys  four  or  five,  when  it  comes  to 
a  boll  into  which  it  goes  and  lies  concealed,  if  enough  to  feed 
on,  until  the  usual  time  of  its  transformation.  The  caterpillar 
is  sometimes  killed  by  hot  sun,  while  eating  into  a  boll. 

If  we  have  a  short  season,  we  will  perhaps  have  but  two 
broods.  This  is  the  case  in  Tennessee,  and  sometimes  in 
North  Alabama.  The  year  1848,  I  made  a  good  crop  of  cot- 
ton, but  it  was  made  after  the  disappearance  of  the  caterpillar. 
I  cannot  account  for  their  disappearance,  for  the  season  was 


160  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

favorable.  They  may  have  been  destroyed  by  some  of  the 
ichneumoniadae  family,  perhaps  the  white  oblong  dots  we  saw 
on  them.  I  never  saw  them  on  first  brood  or  their  eggs. 
But  this  is  all  hypothesis. 

Another  reason  why  they  do  not  damage  the  Tennessee 
planter  so  much  is,  that  he  plants  and  grows  corn  all  the 
season,  and  the  moth  lays  her  eggs  on  corn  in  preference 
to  cotton.  We  will  see  the  difference  between  two  broods 
and  three.  Say  you  have  200  moths  to  come  out,  one-half 
are  males :  we  take  100  females  at  700  eggs  each,  say 
70,000  caterpillars  the  first  generation ;  24,500,000  the  second  ; 
now  sum  them  up  to  the  third,  deducting  half  for  males,  and 
we  have  the  enormous  sum  of  (if  I  have  not  miscalculated) 
8,575,000,000.  This  insect  hybernates  in  the  chrysalis  state 
in  the  ground. 

The  larva  or  caterpillar,  when  full-grown,  will  measure 
from  one  and  one-half  to  one  and  three-quarter  inches  in 
length,  it  looks  to  a  superficial  observer  brown,  pale  yellow 
and  light  green,  though  it  has  eight  longitudinal  streaks  of 
white,  brown  and  green,  with  one  or  two  dots  on  each  seg- 
ment of  the  body  along  the  lowest  streak  ;  it  is  smooth,  shin- 
ing, naked,  with  a  few  hairs  on  each  segment  of  the  body. 
They  are  of  a  cylindrical  form,  tapering  a  little  at  each  end, 
rather  thick  in  proportion  to  their  length,  legs  six  before, 
eight  central,  and  two  anal.  Head  brown,  smaller  than  body, 
oval.  I  know  of  no  effectual  means  of  preventing  the  ravages 
of  this  insect,  but  that  the  remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease. 
Now,  if  we  were  to  plant  no  corn  (zea  mays),  we  might  get 
entirely  clear,  perhaps,  of  this  insect ;  but  more  anon. 
Jackson,  Miss.,  July,  1850.  JOHN  W.  BODDIE. 


CUT-WORMS.  161 

SECTION   IV. — CUT-WORMS. 
From  the  Southern  (La.)  Mirror. 

IN  to-day's  paper  we  publish  a  communication  from  Col.  D. 
J.  Fluker,  upon  a  subject  of  great  interest  and  importance  to 
southern  agriculturists.  Col.  Fluker  is  one  of  the  most  scien- 
tific and  experienced  planters  in  the  State,  and  no  man  is  more 
capable  of  investigating  agricultural  subjects  than  he.  His 
opinions  will  carry  with  them  great  weight  and  influence  ;  and 
he  will  secure  the  thanks  of  the  community  for  his  assiduous 
labors  in  so  useful  a  cause  as  affording  protection  to  that  fragile 
and  delicate  but  wonderful  shrub — the  almighty  cotton. 

East  Feliciana,  July  3,  1850. 

MR.  EDITOR: — I  have  learned  through  the  press,  and  other 
sources,  that  the  cut- worm  has  done  irreparable  injury  to  the 
cotton  plant  this  spring,  and  is  still  at  work  on  some  planta- 
tions in  the  parish.  Until  this  season,  I  have  uniformly  been 
an  extreme  sufferer  whenever  they  appeared  in  the  country — 
never  escaped  before ;  but,  fortunately  for  me,  they  have  been 
"  few  and  far  between,"  so  far,  doing  my  plants  no  harm.  I 
think  the  cotton  is  now  too  large  for  them.  It  has  been  my 
study,  for  some  years,  to  destroy  or  escape  these'  worms ; 
finally,  for  the  first  time,  last  year  I  adopted  the  plan  of  burn- 
ing off  cotton  and  corn  stalks,  grass,  and  in  fact  everything 
combustible  upon  the  field,  in  order  to  furnish  as  much  ashes 
as  possible  to  the  land  generally,  knowing  they  are  not  fond 
of  ashes  or  lime.  This  may  have  been  some  benefit ;  but  I 
rely  mostly  on  late  ploughing — leaving  the  cotton  land  for  the 
last,  and  breaking  it  up  deep  with  two  horses,  just  upon  plant- 
ing, say  1st  of  April ;  thereby  destroying  millions  of  these 
worms  whilst  they  were  generating.  By  more  early  breaking 


162  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

up,  they  can  remain  tinder  the  cotton  ridge,  and  have  sufficient 
time  to  breed  an  army  before  the  young  plant  can  possibly 
grow  out  of  their  reach.  As  a  proof  of  this  position,  the  few 
discovered  in  my  field  were  of  very  small  size.  My  cotton 
crop  was  planted  between  the  5th  and  15th  of  April,  consider- 
ably later  than  I  usually  plant.  I  do  not,  however,  presume 
that  the  late  planting  could  have  had  much  to  do  with  it, 
because  the  cut-worm  is  said  to  be  worse  upon  the  replant 
of  May  than  the  older  stalks.  I  leave  practical  men  to  draw 
their  own  conclusions ;  still  I  must  cling  to  mine,  that  it  was 
the  late  ridging  up  of  my  land  which  saved  me  from  the  cut- 
worm this  year. 

If  the  publication  of  these  hints,  hastily  thrown  together, 
will  have  a  tendency  to  relieve  the  cotton  planter,  in  1851, 
from  the  ravages  of  this  vile  enemy  of  our  great  staple,  I  shall 
be  gratified ;  and  you,  Mr.  Editor,  will  have  done  the  State 
some  service,  for  the  lot  of  the  Louisiana  cotton  grower  is  a 
hard  one,  God  knows. 

Respectfully, 

D.  J.  FLUKER. 


SECTION   V. — DESTROYING   THE   COTTON-MOTH. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — After  having  nearly  lost  three  or  four  crops 
of  cotton  by  the  ravages  of  the  worm,  men  who  heretofore 
have  talked  as  if  they  believed  that  the  constitution  of  this 
world  was  something  like  a  system  of  optionism,  or  that  the 
farmer  had  nothing  to  do  but  plant,  and  keep  the  grass  and 
weeds  down,  and  he  had  done  all  that  was  in  his  power,  now 
talk  on  the*  subject  as  though  they  believed  that  the  Creator 
had  bestowed  on  them  faculties  to  observe  and  trace  cause  and 
effect.  They  manifest  not  only  a  strong  spirit  toward  improv- 


DESTROYING   THE    COTTON-MOTH.  163 

ing  their  farms,  in  making  them  more  productive;  but  they 
think  they  can  do  something  toward  checking  the  advance- 
ment of  that  enemy  that  has  proved  so  injurious  to  the  South. 
Men  who  have  been  opposed  to  everything  like  an  inter- 
change of  opinion,  through  the  press,  in  relation  to  farming, 
and  who  have  been  ready  to  pronounce  everything  that  is  new, 
either  as  a  humbug  or  Utopian,  are  now  busily  engaged  in 
catching  flies  ;  and  it  appears  they  will  have  no  contentment 
until  the  whole  fly  family  is  entirely  exterminated.  And  pro- 
bably it  wUl  not  be  uninteresting  to  some  of  your  readers,  if 
not  profitable,  to  give  you  the  modus  operandi  how  this  thing 
is  done ;  but  as  regards  the  effect  that  it  will  have,  that  is  a 
subject  on  which  I  am  non-committal. 

We  make  a  mixture  of  molasses  and  vinegar,  and  put  it  in 
plates  sufficiently  deep  to  hold  the  flies  after  they  are  caught. 
Some  add  a  little  cobalt ;  but  I  don't  know  that  they  succeed 
any  better  than  the  others.  The  plates  are  placed  about  over 
the  field,  on  stakes  about  the  height  of  the  cotton,  with  boards 
nailed  on  their  top  ends,  large  enough  to  set  the  plates  on. 
The  flies  are  attracted  to  those  plates  by  the  scent  of  the  mix- 
ture, and  are  entrapped.  I  have,  with  eighty  plates,  averaged 
over  1,000  flies  the  night,  and  have  taken  as  many  as  45  and 
50  from  a  plate  in  the  morning,  that  were  caught  the  previous 
night.  I  have  heard  of  some  persons  taking  as  many  as  70 
from  a  plate  in  the  morning,  that  were  caught  the  night  before. 
There  ought  to  be  one  plate  to  each  acre  of  cotton,  though  I 
know  of  no  one  who  has  them  so  thick. 

Another  way  that  some  are  attempting  to  destroy  them,  is 
by  striking  them  down  with  paddles,  their  whole  force  being 
employed  in  that  way  mornings  and  evenings.  If  it  is  a  fact 
that  the  moth  (which  some  doubt  now,  I  believe,)  deposits  her 
egg  on  the  cotton,  which  makes  the  worm ;  then  it  looks  rea- 
sonable that,  by  destroying  the  flies,  the  number  of  worms  must 


164  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

be  lessened :  though  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  dry 
weather  we  have  now  will  be  of  more  advantage  in  that  re- 
spect than  everything  else  beside.  The  flies  are  very  abun- 
dant, though  I  have  heard  no  complaint  of  the  worm.  We 
can't  make  a  large  crop  in  this  region,  even  if  we  have  no 
worms,  for  three  reasons  :  it  is  backward, — the  weed  is  un- 
usually small, — and  there  are  generally  bad  stands. 

I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  not  one  of  the  India  cotton 
seed  that  I  received  from  the  Patent  Office,  came  up ;  the 
most  of  them,  I  think,  were  rotten.  A  few,  however,  had  the 
appearance  of  being  sound,  but  were  too  dry  to  vegetate. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Sumtcrville,  Ala.,  August,  1850.  J.  R.  D. 


SECTION  VI. — THE  BOLL-WORM  AND  "  SORE  SHIN"  IN  COTTON. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  : — There  has  been  a  great  deal  said 
among  planters  as  to  means  for  the  destruction  of  the  boll- 
worm  (which  is  given  up  to  be  the  greatest  evil  cotton  is 
heir  to),  but  not  much  done.  The  means  are  within  the  reach 
of  every  planter,  if  he  was  apprised  of  it.  If  the  plan  that  I 
will  lay  before  you  is  not  effectual,  you  may  take  my  hat, 
though  a  "  shocking  bad  one."  In  the  spring  of  1849,  my 
pigs,  between  thirty  and  forty  in  number,  ran  through  into 
my  cotton  field.  I  determined  to  veto  it  on  seeing  any  depre- 
dations committed  by  them  ;  but,  to  my  astonishment,  they 
devoured  grass,  tie-vines,  weeds,  purslain,  &c.,  and,  making 
diligent  search  after  cut-worms,  destroyed  them  entirely. 
The  result  was,  they  were  in  high  keeping,  and  few,  if  any, 
boll-worms  followed.  This  forced  upon  me  the  conclusion, 
that  all  worms  that  prey  upon  the  cotton  plant  are  of  the 
same  origin.  Every  observing  mind  is  aware  that  the  insect 


THE   BOLL-WORM  AND   "  SORE  SHIN"   JN  COTTON.      105 

tribe  is  undergoing  a  constant  change — hence,  the  cut-worm 
is  changed  to  the  moth ;  the  moth  deposits  its  eggs  upon  the 
plant,  and,  by  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  they  come  forth  worms, 
somewhat  different  from  the  cut-worm  in  form  and  size.  The 
cotton  plant,  at  this  stage,  being  rather  tough  for  them,  they 
attack  the  tender  forms  and  pods,  hence  the  appellation  boll- 
worm.  I  should  have  tried  the  experiment  farther,  but  hav- 
ing, since  1849,  planted  corn  in  my  cotton,  I  could  not  allow 
my  pigs  that  liberty,  as  there  can  be  no  agreement  made  with 
pigs  not  to  molest  the  corn.  I  am  trying  the  plan  this  season, 
and  we  shall  see  what  we  shall  see. 

Messrs.  Editors,  if  my  theory  be  correct,  strike  at  the  foun- 
tain head,  destroy  the  parent  worm,  and  you  destroy  genera- 
tions to  come.  Turn  in  your  pigs,  and,  my  word  for  it,  but 
few  worms  will  be  left.  But  little  tutoring  will  attach  them 
to  the  field.  The  mass  of  planters  require  a  remedy,  without 
money  and  without  price ;  and,  as  a  dose  to  a  large  field,  I 
recommend  a  large  number  of  pigs — a  small  field,  a  small 
number,  &c. 

The  sore  shin  has  been  very  destructive  to  our  stands  of 
cotton  this  season  ;  the  cause  of  which,  I  think,  is  not  gene- 
rally understood  by  planters.  The  sore  sJtin  is  confined  to 
poor  land,  more  particularly  to  poor  sandy  hills.  My  opinion 
is,  that  it  is  occasioned  by  lice  on  the  leaf  of  the  plant,  which 
runs  to  a  disease.  It  is  admitted  by  all  botanists  that  the 
leaf  is  the  lung  of  the  plant,  to  take  up  the  gases,  and  prepare 
the  sap  to  return  to  the  trunk  or  stem.  Too  much  rain  pro- 
duces lice  upon  the  leaf,  which  obstructs  the  laws  of  nature — 
the  leaf  cannot  return  true  sap,  consequently  the  trunk  perish- 
eth.  In  like  manner  disease  the  lungs  of  man,  and  the  trunk 
will  likewise  perish.  It  is  confined  to  poor  ridges,  because  it 
is  slow  in  growth,  and  more  subject  to  disease — less  vigorous 
than  that  on  rich  land.  Lice  never  produce  sore  shin  after 


"i66  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL, 

tlic  plant  obtains  a  great  many  leaves.  Lice  only  attack  the 
top  and  upper  limbs  :  the  remaining  leaves  are  ample  to  sup- 
port the  plant.  Some  contend  that  it  is  the  effects  of  a  bruise, 
or  cut  with  the  hoe.  If  such  be  the  case,  why  is  it  confined 
to  hills  and  poor  places  ?  I  have  often  seen  wounded  stalks 
occasioned  from  the  hoe.  The  effect  is  quite  different,  and  does 
not  come  under  the  head  of  sore  shin.  I  think  manuring  the 
places  subject  to  lice,  and  thorough  tillage,  will  obviate  the  cause. 

I  am  pleased  to  see,  on  the  part  of  some  of  your  correspond- 
ents, a  disposition  to  withdraw  the  firebrand  from  the  camp. 
I  know  of  many  who  could,  and  perhaps  would,  impart  much 
useful  and  practical  information  to  the  columns  of  the  Culti- 
vator, did  they  not  expect  to  be  taken  off  by  the  crabbed  pens 
of  "  crusty"  critics. 

Yours,  truly, 

Amite  Co.,  Miss.,  July,  1853.  HEBRON. 


SECTION   VII. — BIRDS   VERSUS   INSECTS. 

THE  late  Dr.  Harris,  who  was  well  known  for  his  entomo- 
logical researches,  held  the  following  sentiments  respecting 
birds  and  insects  : 

"  In  order  to  aid  in  checking  the  ravages  of  noxious  insects, 
protection  should  be  given  to  their  natural  enemies.  To  this 
end,  a  stop  should  be  put  to  the  indiscriminate  and  prevailing 
slaughter  of  insect-eating  birds  and  quadrupeds  by  the  mur- 
derous gun.  Those  persons  who  now  waste  their  time  and 
powder  in  killing  these  innocent  and  useful  creatures,  would 
be  better  employed  in  planting  corn  and  trees,  and  in  making 
two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where  only  one  grew  before. 
Your  wood-peckers  have  already  shown  themselves  to  be  your 
friends  ;  let  them  have  all  due  encouragement." 


ANOTHER   PLEA    FOR   THE   BIRDS.  167 


SECTION  VIII. — ANOTHER   PLEA   FOR   THE   BIRDS. 

THE  following  interesting  passages  are  from  a  paper  read 
by  Mr.  Townsend  Glover,  before  the  late  meeting  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Society,  and  published  in  the 
Washington  National  Intelligencer : 

"  Here,  however,  let  me  change  the  subject,  to  put  in  a 
plea  for  mischievous  birds,  which  appear  to  have  been  sent  to 
keep  the  '  balance  of  power'  in  insect  life,  which  insects  would 
otherwise  multiply  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  perfectly  un- 
bearable, and  render  the  agriculturist's  toil  entirely  useless. 
A  farmer  keeps  a  watch-dog  to  guard  his  premises,  and  cats 
to  kill  rats  and  mice  in  his  granary  and  barn ;  yet  he  suffers 
an  'unfeathered  biped'  to  tear  down  his  rails,  in  order  to  get  a 
chance  shot  at  a  robin,  wren,  or  blue-bird,  which  may  be  un- 
fortunate enough  to  be  on  his  premises ;  and  yet  these  very 
birds  do  him  more  good  than  either  dog  or  cat,  working  dili- 
gently from  morn  to  dark,  and  killing  and  destroying  insects 
injurious  to  his  crops,  which,  if  not  thus  thinned  out,  would 
eventually  multiply  to  such  an  extent  as  to  leave  him  scarcely 
any  crop  whatsoever. 

"  Birds  are  accused  of  eating  cherries  and  other  fruits. 
True ;  but  the  poor  birds  merely  take  a  tithe  of  the  fruit  to 
pay  for  the  tree,  which,  but  for  their  unceasing  efforts,  would 
otherwise  probably  have  been  killed  in  its  infancy.  To  ex- 
emplify the  utility  of  birds,  I  will  give  one  or  two  instances 
that  have  occurred  under  my  own  observation.  Some  years 
ago,  I  took  a  fancy  to  keep  beep  5  accordingly,  hives  were 
procured,  and  books  read  upon  the  subject.  One  day  a  king- 
bird, or  bee-martin  was  observed  to  be  very  busy  about  the 
hives,  apparently  snapping  up  every  straggling  bee  he  could 
find.  Indignant  at  such  a  breach  of  hospitality,  as  his  nest 


1G8  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

was  on  the  premises,  I  hastened  to  the  house  to  procure  a  gun 
to  shoot  the  marauder.  When  I  returned,  I  perceived  a  gray- 
ish bird  on  the  bushy  top  of  a  tree,  and,  thinking  it  was  the 
robber,  I  fired,  and  down  dropped  a  poor,  innocent  Phoebe 
bird. 

"Hoping  to  find  some  consolation  to  my  conscience,  for 
having  committed  this  most  foul  murder,  I  inwardly  accused 
the  poor  little  Phoebe  of  having  also  killed  the  bees ;  and, 
having  determined  to  ascertain  the  fact  by  dissecting  the  bird, 
it  was  opened,  when,  much  to  my  regret  and  astonishment, 
it  was  found  to  be  full  of  the  striped  cucumber  bugs,  and  not 
one  single  bee.  Here  I  had  killed  the  very  bird  that  had 
been  working  for  me  the  whole  season,  and  perfectly  innocent 
of  the  crime  for  which  it  was  sacrificed.  After  the  circum- 
stance, I  determined  to  never  let  a  gun  be  fired  on  the  prem- 
ises, excepting  on  special  occasions  ;  and  at  present  the  place 
is  perfectly  crowded  during  spring,  summer  and  autumn,  with 
the  feathered  songsters,  which  build  their  nests  even  in  my 
very  porch,  and  bring  up  their  young  perfectly  fearless  of 
mankind ;  and  although  cherries,  strawberries,  &c.,  do  suffer, 
yet  the  insects  are  not  a  quarter  as  numerous  and  troublesome 
as  they  were  formerly. 

"  In  the  southern  States,  I  have  seen  the  bee-martin  chase 
and  capture  a  boll-worm  moth,  not  ten  paces  from  where  I 
stood,  and  the  mocking-bird  feeding  its  nearly  grown  young 
on  the  same  insect.  Even  the  ugly  toad  works  for  the  farmer 
and  gardener,  as  his  food  consists  of  insects  more  or  less  in- 
jurious. The  beautiful  and  lively  green  and  gray  lizards  of 
the  southern  States,  which  are  seen  running  on  the  fence-rail, 
or  amidst  the  green  foliage  of  trees,  shrubs  and  bushes,  and 
from  which  they  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  except  when 
in  motion,  are  ever  on  the  watch  for  insect  prey ;  and  I  know 
of  one  curious  case  in  which  even  the  mice  in  the  green-house 


RED   RUST   AND   BROWN   RUST.  169 

were  of  service,  for  they  had  rooted  up  the  earth  round  seve- 
ral potted  peach  trees,  in  order  to  devour  the  chrysalis  of  the 
peach-tree  borer." 


SECTION   IX. — RED   RUST   AND   BROWN   RUST. 
From  the  Columbia  (S.  C.)  Planter. 

DEAR  SIR  : — I  feel  ashamed  of  not  having  yet  complied 
with  your  request,  that  I  should  send  you  a  treatise  on  the 
manufacture,  application  and  effect  of  manure.  I  will,  how- 
ever, compromise  with  my  conscience,  by  promising  to  do  so 
in  a  week  or  two.  The  fact  is,  I  am  so  conscious  of  devoting 
less  attention  and  labor  to  that  department  of  plantation 
economy,  than  its  importance  demands,  that  I  feel  a  repug- 
nance to  seeing  my  deficiency  formally  and  mathematically 
computed.  My  present  impulse  is  to  discourse  on  the  inex- 
plicable subject  of  rust  in  cotton,  and  I  will  not  thwart  it. 

In  this  section  of  country,  we  have  two  species  of  rust — the 
red  or  common  rust,  and  the  brown  or  French.  I  cannot 
give  you  the  derivation  of  the  latter  term,  but  it  is  of  general 
prevalence  in  this  neighborhood.  The  red  rust  is  that  to 
which  all  varieties  of  land  in  this  district  are  more  or  less  liable ; 
and  the  brown  rust,  or  French,  that  which  is  only  found  on 
black-jack  soils,  and  on  the  flat  lands  of  the  description  of  those 
on  Dutchman's  and  Wateree  creeks. 

As  Humbug  jr.  affirms,  many  theories  have  been  adduced 
to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  red  rust,  the  partizans  of  each 
believing  firmly  in  his  own  favorite,  and  denouncing  those  of 
others ;  and  he  accordingly  treats  as  an  absurdity,  a  creed  of 
mine,  which  I  consider  I  have  iucontestibly  proven  by  an  ex- 
perience of  nine  years. 


170  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

I  commenced  to  till  my  present  lands,  and  at  tlie  same  time 
to  cultivate  the  short  staple-cotton,  nine  years  ago,  under  the 
tutorage  of  an  observant,  experienced,  and  skilful  overseer. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  summer,  he  remarked  to  me,  that  we 
should  have  to  keep  our  cotton  fields  free  of  poke-weeds  and 
briars,  if  we  meant  to  escape  rust.  This  being  a  new  idea  to 
me,  I  of  course  ridiculed  it,  and  so  unmercifully  too,  that,  as 
he  afterwards  told  me,  he  forthwith  determined  that  I  should 
purchase  belief  by  expensive  experience.  Accordingly,  to- 
wards fall,  he  carried  me  to  three  several  spots  of  rust,  in  as 
many  different  fields,  which  he  had  contrived  to  produce  by 
leaving  poke-stalks  in  or  around  stumps,  which  happened  to 
be  there  located.  They  were  the  only  spots  of  rust  I  had  in 
my  crop,  and  from  every  other  portion  of  it,  had  the  poke 
been  carefully  eradicated.  This  coincidence  staggered  me, 
and  its  repetition  for  nine  consecutive  years,  has  confirmed 
my  faith. 

In  riding  by  the  fields  of  my  neighbors,  I  have  seen  poke- 
stalks  suffered  to  grow  among  the  cotton,  and  have  predicted 
to  a  companion  (correctly,  as  it  was  proven,)  that  rust  would 
be  the  consequence.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  first  seen 
rust,  and  on  searching  for  it,  have  found  poke. 

I  do  not  say  that  rust  may  not  originate  without  the  pres- 
ence of  poke  ;  nor  do  I  believe  that,  like  the  celebrated  upas 
tree,  it  exudes  poison,  deleterious  to  surrounding  vegetation ; 
but  simply  that  poke,  briars,  strawberries,  and  perhaps  other 
plants,  are  more  liable  to  the  disease  than  cotton ;  and  having 
first  become  affected,  communicate  the  disorder  to  their  more 
healthy  neighbor.  Where  poke  has  been  repeatedly  cut  down 
in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  and  is  suffered  to  grow  at  a 
late  date,  I  believe  it  is  harmless  ;  for  it  does  not  appear  to 
be  liable  to  the  disease  till  it  has  reached  maturity,  and  com- 
menced to  decline. 


RED  RUST  AND   BROWN  RUST.  171 

A  friend  of  mine  spent  a  part  of  the  last  summer  in  this 
vicinity,  and  occasionally  delighted  me  with  a  visit.  At  our 
first  interview,  he  began,  in  unmeasured  terms,  to  denounce 
the  folly  and  superstition  of  "some  ignorant  citizens  of  the 
district,"  in  believing  that  poke  could  produce  rust.  Like  St. 
Peter,  I  was  at  first  ashamed  to  confess  my  faith  in  so  despised 
a  doctrine,  and,  if  I  did  not  deny,  certainly  did  not  avow  that 
I  was  a  disciple.  At  each  subsequent  interview,  I  was  grati- 
fied to  observe  that  the  opposition  of  my  friend  was  melting 
away  under  the  influence  of  accumulating  proof,  till  at  length, 
when  I  rallied  and  came  to  the  rescue,  his  offensive  warfare 
degenerated  into  mere  defence  of  his  doubts,  and  he  finally 
determined  to  risk  his  remaining  strength  upon  the  issue  of  a 
single  experiment,  an  opportunity  for  which  then  presented 
itself.  In  the  midst  of  a  large,  healthy,  flourishing  field  of 
cotton,  he  saw  a  small  spot  of  rust,  and  he  determined  to  sur- 
render at  discretion,  if  in  the  centre  he  should  find  poke- 
weed.  The  poke  was  found,  and  he  acknowledged  himself  a 
convert. 

I  may  properly  close  what  I  have  said  of  red  rust,  by  stat- 
ing, as  a  corollary,  that  though  we  do  not  know  what  pro- 
duces it,  in  poke  or  cotton,  nevertheless,  if  poke,  briars,  &c., 
are  more  liable  to  the  disease  than  cotton,  and  can  communi- 
cate it,  it  is  wise  not  to  suffer  them  to  take  root  in  our  fields. 
We  know  not  the  cause  of  the  origin  of  yellow  fever  or  small- 
pox, yet  we  know  that  they  are  communicable  and  infectious, 
and  avoid  persons  and  places  suspected  of  being  tainted  with 
their  influence. 

Of  the  French  or  brown  rust,  though  I  suffer  from  its  effects, 
I  have  very  little  to  say.  Some  people  have  attributed  it  to 
the  presence  of  iron  in  the  soil,  in  some  of  its  chemical  forms. 
Others  (and  I  am  among  them),  believe  that  it  is  caused  by 
an  undue  proportion  of  lime  in  the  soil,  causing  the  plant  to 


172  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

scald  under  the  superadded  influence  of  heat  and  water.  I 
once  saw  the  late  Dr.  James  Davis,  of  Columbia,  analyze  soil 
taken  indiscriminately  from  the  land  that  is  liable  to  the 
French,  and  the  result  was  seven  and  a-half  per  cent,  of  carb. 
of  lime.  Now,  this  is  certainly  a  much  stronger  proportion 
than  even  three  hundred  bushels  of  rich  marl  would  give  uni- 
formly to  the  whole  mass  of  an  acre  of  soil,  if  thoroughly 
amalgamated  with  it.  The  flat  creek  lands,  upon  which  this 
disease  prevails,  are  not  the  alluvial  bottoms ;  these  are  of  a 
distinct  character  from  the  former,  which  lie  between  them 
and  the  sandy  ridge. 

I  have  found  that  late  ploughing  promotes  the  French,  and 
that  compost  manure  is  the  best  preventive. 

Yours,  very  respectfully, 

Fairfield,  August  30,  1843.  FARMINGTON. 


SECTION  x. — "BLUE  COTTON." 

GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  been  a  subscriber  to  the  Cultivator 
for  the  past  year,  and  have  just  forwarded  to  you,  through  the 
Postmaster,  the  amount  of  subscription  for  another  copy,  the 
receipt  of  which  you  will  acknowledge  by  sending  me  the 
first  number  for  1844. 

How  does  it  happen  that  I  have  never,  to  my  recollection, 
seen  in  your  paper  a  single  paragraph  in  relation  to  Sea  Island 
cotton  ?  Can  it  be  that  you  have  so  few  patrons  on  the  sea- 
board, or  that  they  send  you  no  communications  ?  I  have 
waited  patiently  myself  for  such,  and  perhaps  others  have 
done  the  same,  from  the  same  motive.  Our  lands  yield  in 
value  a  large  portion  of  our  exports,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable interest,  to  our  small  number  at  least,  to  give  and 
receive  information  on  that  subject ;  and,  although  I  am  by 


"  BLUE   COTTON."  173 

no  means  an  adept  in  the  culture  of  the  long  staple,  I  might 
occasionally  throw  out  a  hint  which  might  be  extended  and 
improved  upon  by  others  more  capable  than  myself.  But  to 
the  object  of  this  communication :  We  have  large  portions  of 
land  on  the  main,  adjoining  our  salt-water  rivers  and  inlets, 
such  as  live  oak  flats,  &c.,  which  produce  what  is  termed,  in 
our  fraternity,  Blue  Cotton,  from,  I  presume,  the  blueish  cast 
of  the  plant.  These  lands  are  very  rich,  and  produce  fine 
crops  of  corn,  but  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted,  there  has  been 
no  remedy  applied  for  Blue  Cotton,  which  they  almost  inva- 
riably produce.  By  this  term  we  mean  such  cotton  as  comes 
up  and  grows  very  luxuriantly,  without  any  fruit,  reaching 
at  times  the  height  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  having  large  leaves, 
with  crimped  edges,  and  of  a  deep  lead  color,  so  much  so  that 
a  spot  in  the  field  may  be  recognised  as  far  as  the  plant  can 
be  distinguished.  At  other  times,  depending  perhaps  on  a 
very  wet  season,  the  plant,  after  growing  several  feet,  and 
bearing  well,  sheds  all  its  fruit  and  becomes  blue. 

This  is  a  serious  difficulty  with  our  strong  lands,  and  I  hope 
among  your  many  readers,  some  one  may  be  able  to  suggest 
a  remedy  for  the  evil.  It  has  been  generally  supposed  among 
us,  that  land  containing  a  large  quantity  of  iron  would  have 
this  effect — why,  I  know  not;  but  if  such  is  the  fact,  it  ap- 
pears to  me  that  lime  would  be  a  good  application,  and  it  is 
my  intention  to  try  it.  The  chemical  action  of  lime  on  the 
organic  substances  of  which  our  strong  low  flats  and  swamps 
contain  a  great  deal,  is  very  considerable,  and  this  is  not  only 
in  reference  to  vegetable  remains,  but  it  acts  with  equal 
energy  upon  the  dead  and  living  animal  matter.  Its  opera- 
tion, therefore,  may  effect  a  change  in  the  production  of  the 
plant.  Besides,  if  the  soil  contains  sulphate  of  iron,  this 
is  decomposed  by  the  lime,  which,  uniting  with  its  sulphuric 
acid,  forms  the  sulphate  of  lime,  which  is  commonly  called 


174  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

gypsum,  and  which  is  universally  admitted  to  be  a  great  fer- 
tilizer of  the  soil.  Now  the  question  is,  will  this  chemical 
process  have  the  effect  of  changing  those  matters  in  the  soil 
which  cause  our  cotton  to  turn  blue.  Experience,  of  course, 
will  be  our  surest  guide  on  this  subject,  but  it  would  be  deeply 
interesting  to  read  the  views  of  some  of  your  learned  corres- 
pondents in  relation  to  it. 

Respectfully,  &c., 
Bryan  County,  January  1,  1844.  AGRICOLA. 

P.  S.  I  have  been  using,  for  some  time,  the  plough  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  Sea  Island  cotton,  with  advantage,  and  I 
intend,  this  year,  further  to  facilitate  my  work  by  the  side- 
harrow  and  the  cultivator.  Be  good  enough  to  say,  in  your 
next  number,  if  I  can  obtain  the  latter  implement  in  Augusta, 
whose  make,  at  what  cost,  and  whether  they  will  answer 
between  beds  four  and  a-half  feet  apart.  They  ought  to  be 
made  so  as  to  be  moved  for  a  greater  or  less  distance. 


SECTION   XL — THE   DRY   ROT   IN   COTTON 

EDITORS  SOUTHERN  CULTIVATOR  : — Permit  me,  in  behalf 
of  myself  and  neighbors,  to  make  known  the  existence  of  a 
disease  in  our  cotton  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  ever  be- 
fore known  by  us,  called  the  "  dry  rot,"  and  ask  you  some 
questions  as  to  the  probable  cause. 

The  disease  we  speak  of  attacks  the  top  bolls.  The  seed 
and  lint  first  rot  and  turn  black ;  then  a  sore  or  scab  appears, 
resembling  a  puncture  with  a  sharp  instrument.  This  extends 
quite  over  the  surface  of  the  boll,  and  very  frequently — after 
the  disease  has  taken  possession  of  the  whole  pod — it  opens 
its  prongs  and  presents  a  thoroughly  rotten  state  in  all  its 
parts.  So  far  as  the  writer's  observation  extends,  it  is  most 


THE  DRY  ROT  IN   COTTON.  175 

*«jurious  to  sandy  soils,  and  on  these  it  appears  most  malig- 
nant in  those  fields  which  have  been  longest  in  cultivation. 
It  is  seen,  however,  in  places  where  the  lands  have  been  well 
manured  and  cultivated.  I  am  informed  the  lime  or  cane 
brake  lands  are  suffering  to  some  extent  with  it. 

In  this  vicinity,  it  is  felt  as  a  serious  drawback  on  our  crops 
from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  pounds  per  acre,  all  of  our 
crops  will  suffer  from  it,  and  this  after  the  bolls  seemed  to 
have  matured.  Hence,  we  have  conversed  on  the  subject  a 
good  deal,  and  the  writer  has  concluded  to  call  your  attention 
to  it,  and  ask,  if  the  cause  is  known  to  yourself  or  older  plant- 
ers than  we  are.  The  specific  inquiry  or  inquiries  we  would 
ask  of  your  better  judgment,  are,  whether  this  rot  is  probably 
caused  by  peculiarity  of  soil  ?  Or,  is  it  the  result  of  the  sea- 
sons (these  have  of  late  been  uniform)  ?  Or  the  mode  of 
cultivation  ;  has  this  influenced  it  ?  Is  there  any  reason  to 
credit  the  conjecture  that  one  variety  of  cotton  is  more  liable 
tharT  another  to  this  disease  ?  This  year  the  rot  is  doing  so 
much  harm  to  our  cotton  as  to  call  for  examination  and  reme- 
dy, and  if  it  should  increase  its  ravages  from  year  to  year,  it 
would  be  felt  as  a  serious  evil. 

I  hope  the  readers  of  the  Cultivator,  as  well  as  yourselves, 
will  give  attention  to  the  subject — all  planters  are  interested, 
at  least  in  one  point,  and  that  is  as  the  extent  of  the  injury. 
Very  respectfully,  I  subscribe  myself. 

Alabama,  October,  1855.  BEAVER  BEND. 


IF  the  cotton  plant  should  suffer  as  much  from  premature 
decay,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  as  the  potato  plant  has, 
the  occurrence  will  not  surprise  us.  Gangrene,  whether  "  dry" 
or  otherwise,  in  vegetable  and  animal  tissues,  arises  commonly 
either  from  the  weakening  of  vital  force  by  improper  nourish- 


176  COTTON 

ment,  the  presence  of  a  poisonous  substance,  or  from  some 
unknown  constitutional  defect.  The  source  of  "  canker," 
which  attacks  fruits  and  fruit  trees, — of  the  potato  rot,  and 
the  rot  in  the  seed  and  lint  of  cotton, —  is  involved  in  great 
obscurity.  "Whatever  may  be  the  primary  exciting  cause  either 
of  the  premature  extinction  of  life  in  the  parts  affected,  and 
of  their  rapid  dissolution,  the  warmth  and  humidity  of  the  sur- 
rounding atmosphere  may  be  such  as  to  favor  the  destructive 
increase  of  the  malady.  All  living  beings  are  creatures  of 
circumstances,  with  many  of  which  the  wisest  are  yet  un- 
acquainted. We  know  that  inflamed  flesh  is  apt  to  mortify ; 
and  that  the  dead  limbs  of  a  man,  like  those  of  a  tree,  may 
even  drop  off  by  purely  vital  and  chemical  processes.  Nature 
has  many  secrets  in  vegetable  and  animal  life  and  death,  that 
human  science  may  never  penetrate  nor  reveal.  But  this  fact 
should  not  prevent  our  studying  all  the  phenomena  of  vitality, 
as  displayed  in  ultivated  plants  and  domesticated  animals. 
English  farmers  find  it  impossible  to  grow  common  red  clover 
on  land  where  this  plant  has  flourished  for  a  half  century, 
without  being  able  to  assign  any  good  reason  for  the  fact  that 
the  soil  is  now  "clover  sick."  A  change  of  crops,  in  all  such 
cases,  has  been  the  best  remedy,  where  others  failed.  The 
fastest  horses,  with  the  largest  constitutional  resources,  may 
be  broken  down  by  over  work ;  and  why  may  not  the  vital 
resources  of  the  cotton  plant  be  over  tasked  by  those  who  seem 
willing  to  drive  cotton  culture  as  one  drives  a  free  horse,  till 
he  foils  dead  and  rots  ? 

The  over-feeding  of  an  animal  is  a  poor  remedy  for  pushing 
him  beyond  his  natural  powers  of  endurance  ;  and,  by  a  parity 
of  reasoning,  to  surcharge  the  vessels  and  cells  of  a  plant  with 
liquid  manure,  is  not  a  proper  preventive  of  "  rot,"  in  its  sound 
or.  diseased  system.  Potatoes  rot  most,  when  thus  treated. 

According  to  our  ideas,  diseases  in  vital  organs  and  functions 


THE   DRY  ROT  IN    COTTON.  177 

are  seldom  viewed  so  philosophically  as  the  present  advanced 
state  of  physiological  science  renders  practicable.  If  we  were 
to  say  that  the  earth  and  climates,  including  air  and  water, 
produce  murrain  in  cattle  far  more  in  some  localities  than  in 
others,  as  similar  elements  of  disease  produce  bilious  affections 
in  the  human  family,  the  true  sources  of  these  well-known 
maladies  would  be  but  poorly  explained.  Unquestionably, 
many  causes  often  cooperate  to  weaken  the  vital  principle  in 
plants  and  animals ;  and  the  early  death  and  dissolution  of  a 
single  cell  in  the  fruit  of  a  cotton  plant,  are  doubtless  sufficient 
to  bring  on  the  chemical  disorganization  of  the  whole  boll,  if 
not  of  the  whole  plant.  The  rotting  or  decay  of  every  tissue 
is  purely  a  chemical  process,  however  this  disorganizing  ope- 
ration may  have  originated. 

If  we  have  read  the  agricultural  literature  of  civilized  na- 
tions aright,  such  diseases  as  the  blight  on  pear  trees,  the 
premature  rotting  of  apples,  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables, 
and  the  rot  in  cotton,  are  not  likely  to  diminish  in  the  aggre- 
gate, until  farmers  know  more  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  of  the 
true  principles  of  farm  economy,  than  they  now  do.  They 
cannot  systematically  obey  laws  of  which  they  know  little  or 
nothing.  So  long  as  farmers  in  Western  New  York  raised  po- 
tatoes on  fresh  virgin  soils,  they  were  exempt  from  the  potato 
rot  as  a  prevailing  distemper ;  and  we  fear  that,  as  cotton  is 
cultivated  year  after  year  on  the  gradually  deteriorated  lands 
of  the  South,  there  is  no  strength  of  vitality  in  this  weed  to 
protect  it,  indefinitely ',  from  constitutional  deterioration,  and 
its  natural  consequences. 

In  an  excellent  article  on  "  Cotton  culture,  and  selection  of 
Seed,"  in  our  last  issue,  Mr.  A.  W.  Washburn,  of  Yazoo,  Miss., 
says  that  his  crop  averages  a  bale  of  cotton  of  400  Ibs.  to  the 
acre,  although  he  plants  "  on  prairie  land  twenty-five  years 
under  hard  cultivation,  without  manure."  He  makes  ten  bales 


178  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

to  the  hand,  and  probably  is  not  at  all  injured  by  the  rot. 
Such  facts  speak  well  for  the  natural  resources  of  his  soil ;  but 
"hard  cultivation"  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  more  with- 
out manure,  may  so  change  the  physical  and  chemical  proper- 
ties of  this  land  as  to  weaken  the  cotton  plants  which  grow 
therein;  and  their  seed,  planted  in  districts  where  the  rot 
prevails,  will  yield  crops  equally  subject  to  the  malady.  If 
our  cotton  rotted,  as  described  by  "Beaver  Bend,"  in  our  last 
number,  we  should  grow,  or  obtain  from  another,  seed  pro- 
duced on  fresh  land  to  plant  hereafter.  The  land  on  which 
cotton  is  to  be  cultivated,  should  be  ploughed  an  inch  or  two 
deeper  than  usual,  to  give  the  growing  plants  the  benefit  of  a 
better  pasture  in  fresh,  earth.  The  subsoil  is  often  full  of 
virgin,  fertilizing  resources,  which  superficial,  shallow  tillage 
never  reaches.  There  is  a  striking  analogy  between  the 
healthy  pasturage  of  domesticated  plants  and  domesticated 
animals.  If  unchanged  into  new  and  fresh  pastures,  cattle 
soon  eat  down,  and  finally  kill  out  those  nutritious  grasses  and 
herbs  best  adapted  to  form  pure  blood,  sound  flesh,  nerves  and 
bones.  They  may  still  subsist,  and  propagate  their  kind  for 
several  generations ;  but  under  far  less  favorable  circumstan- 
ces, and  more  subject  to  casualities.  The  over- cropping  of 
their  land  is  a  similar  folly.  It  parts  with  some  element  of 
vegetable  nutrition,  unseen  and  unappreciated  by  the  cultivator 
and  there  is  left  to  him  a  disordered  soil,  yielding  cotton  plants 
of  unnatural,  unsound  growth,  which  Nature  disowns,  vitality 
deserts,  and  chemical  laws  speedily  resolve  into  their  original 
elements.  As  every  thing  that  lives,  decays  or  "  rots  "  sooner 
or  later,  it  is  a  question  of  time  and  circumstance,  when  and 
how  this  final  result  shall  be  attained.  A  reasonable  supply 
of  potash  in  the  soil  is  known  to  promote  the  healthy  growth 
of  the  woody  fibre  in  plants,  (which  forms  the  lint  of  cotton, 
and  a  part  of  its  seed,)  and  also  favors  the  perfect  organization 


ROT   IN    COTTON.  179 

of  starch,  sugar,  oil,  and  the  so-called  protean  compounds; 
therefore  let  wood  ashes  be  applied  to  the  "  sandy  land  "  where 
cotton  rots. 

It  is  an  unwise,  a  bad  system  of  cultivation,  that  makes  so 
many  old  and  deserted  fields  in  the  cotton-growing  States. 
Nature  never  gets  tired  of  growing  crops  of  forest  trees,  even 
on  the  very  poorest  lauds  of  the  South.  This  fact  is  full  of 
instruction.  Man  wantonly  violates  her  laws,  and  disease,  in 
a  thousand  forms,  is  sent  to  chastise  him  into  better  conduct. 
How  far  Providence  will  punish  the  impoverishment  of  arable 
lands,  we  have  all  yet  to  learn.  It  will,  however,  be  sufficient 
to  compel  a  reform  in  our  present  system  of  tillage  and  hus- 
bandry. If  one  degree  of  rot,  of  "  murrain,"  or  other  calamity, 
is  insufficient  to  bring  us  back  to  the  straight  and  narrow  path 
of  agricultural  duty,  another,  and  still  another  degree  of  chas- 
tisement will  be  added,  until,  penitent  and  willing  to  obey  the 
laws  of  his  Creator,  man  will  properly  feed  the  land  that  both 
feeds  and  clothes  him.  L. 


SECTION  XI. — ROT  IN   COTTON. 

We  copy  the  following  from  the  Liberty  (Miss.)  Advocate, 
of  a  recent  date  : 

MR.  FORSYTHE  : — In  a  former  communication,  I  alluded 
to  the  rot  in  cotton,  which  when  properly  considered,  deserves 
more  than  a  passing  notice.  Millions  of  inhabitants  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  culture  and  manufacture  of  the  great  south- 
ern staple  for  employment.  The  disease  does  not  affect  the 
northern  producers,  when  they  can  obtain  enormous  prices  for 
their  produce,  or  the  manufacturer,  when  they  can  buy  our 
staple  for  a  mere  song — which  is  not  warranted  by  the  proper 


180  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

statistics.     In   1849,  the  manufacturing  companies  of  Man- 
chester adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  we  consider  all  reports  relative  to  a  short 
crop,  such  as  overflows,  worms,  &c.,  altogether  humbug." 
They  are  now  raising  the  cry  of  large  crops,  in  order  to  keep 
down  the  prices.  I  fear  we  have  given  them  too  much  rope 
to  take  it  up  with  ease,  unless  we  make  a  long  pull,  a  strong 
pull,  and  a  pull  altogether.  They  are  now  like  the  negro's 
horse — have  two  good  eyes,  and  won't  see.  It  is  fearful  to 
contemplate,  when  we  consider  the  ravages  the  disease  is 
making  upon  the  cotton  plant,  and  so  little  said  or  done  to 
remedy  the  evil.  Let  us  take  a  retrospect  of  the  cotton  plant. 
When  the  Deity  in  his  goodness  gave  our  forefathers  the 
virgin  soil — with  their  rude  agricultural  implements — the  old 
black  seed  to  cultivate — which  was  so  peculiarly  adapted  to 
his  situation — when  cotton  gins  were  among  the  things  un- 
cumbered,  the  pioneer,  with  his  wife  and  his  little  ones,  after 
their  daily  toil  in  gathering  their  cotton  in,  assembled  around 
their  pine-knot  fire  to  disengage  the  seed  from  its  linty  fibre, 
whilst  the  mother  and  daughters  converted  it  into  yarn,  to 
barter  it  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  Thus  time  passed  on, 
until  the  plant  began  to  run  out,  and  the  rot  made  its  appear- 
ance, which  caused  a  new  importation  of  seed,  different  from 
the  black  seed ;  which  caused  arts  and  sciences  to  be  put  in 
motion  to  prepare  it  for  market — then  the  disease  disappeared 

Time  passed  on,  and  no  very  great  change  was  made  in  the 
seed,  until  Col.  Abby,  of  Mastodon  notoriety,  made  a  fortune 
in  a  very  short  time  by  selling  his  seed  at  fifteen  to  twenty, 
and  even  fifty  dollars  per  bushel,  which  went  off  like  hot 
cakes — proved  to  be  more  valuable  than  the  cotton  itself. 
There  was  a  general  stampede  among  the  planters  who  should 
make  the  next  fortune  selling  seed,  and  at  the  same  time  heap 
ing  denunciations  upon  the  Colonel.  By  a  little  care  in  select- 


ROT  IN   COTTON.  181 

ing,  and  an  improvement  in  name,  we  soon  had  a  catalogue 
of  names,  such  as  Alvarado,  Brown,  Pitt,  Willow,  Hogan, 
Sugar  Loaf,  Silk,  Vick's  100-seed,  and  a  host  of  others. 
Those  that  succeeded  best  in  giving  a  big  name,  and  puffing 
most,  bore  off  the  palm,  and  wore  the  title  of  Colonel,  and 
even  went  farther — for  instance,  Gen.  Mitchell's  Prolific  Pome- 
granate, &c.  Each  of  the  above  varieties  succeeded  very 
well  for  two  or  three  years,  and  then  sank  below  par.  All 
the  notoriety  was  given  to  the  variety,  when  half  was  entitled 
to  a  change  of  latitude.  The  different  varieties  have  been 
mixed  up  so,  until  it  has  become  corrupted,  and  the  corruption 
has  become  epidemic. 

We  are  now  where  our  forefathers  were  with  the  old  black 
seed.  Many  of  our  old  standard  planters  pronounced  it  iden- 
tically the  old  black  rot.  I  have  been  a  close  observer  of  the 
disease  since  it  made  its  appearance.  It  seems  to  be  worse 
when  we  have  a  warm,  cloudy  spell  of  weather,  of  five  or  six 
days.  Apparently  all  the  bolls  will  mildew  and  rot  in  a  few 
days.  One  would  suppose  that  it  was  atmospheric.  Not  so. 
We  had  just  such  weather  ten  years  ago,  when  the  rot  was 
not  known. 

I  see  a  certain  M.D.  has  sent  some  beetles  and  diseased 
bolls  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  examination.  I  cannot 
reconcile  myself  that  it  is  the  effect  of  insects.  If  it  was,  we 
would  have  had  an  immense  quantity  of  it  during  the  reign  of 
the  army-worm  in  1846,  and  the  boll-worm  since.  They 
stripped  the  foliage,  cut  the  rind  from  the  boll,  punctured  the 
pods,  and  even  embedded  themselves  into  them,  yet  they 
opened  beautifully,  and  the  disease  was  not  known. 

A  correspondent  of  the  American  Cotton  Planter  says  it  is 
caused  from  the  want  of  new,  healthy,  and  sufficient  quantity 
of  pabulum.  I  must  beg  to  differ  with  him.  Some  of  our  old 
hills  have  suffered  these  many  long  years  for  a  want  of  a  suf- 


182  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

ficient  quantity  of  healthy  food,  yet  the  rot  did  not  appear. 
If  any  soil  shall  produce  healthy  pabulum,  it  should  be  fresh 
land.  My  experience  is,  the  disease  is  a  little  worse  on  fresh 
land  than  old  land.  I  cannot  see  why  the  disease  has  not 
made  its  appearance  before  now,  if  this  theory  is  true.  Many 
planters  say,  a  change  of  seed  a  short  distance  is  beneficial. 
In  this  I  agree  ;  but  I  prefer  a  change  from  a  northern  latitude, 
and  a  district  that  is  not  infected,  for  the  following  reason : 
The  best  latitude  for  cotton  has  been  considered  that  of  Vicks- 
burg.  The  latitude  has  gradually  been  going  further  north. 
The  crop  of  our  country  from  1840  to  1850,  excelled,  per  acre, 
that  of  Yazoo  or  Holmes  county.  Since  1850,  up  to  the 
present  time,  we  have  retrograded,  while  they  have  increased 
— the  boll-worm  has  disappeared,  and  the  rot  is  scarcely  known. 
The  picture  is  truly  discouraging.  We  may  obey  the  man- 
dates of  the  Scriptures,  "  What  thou  doest,  do  with  all  thy 
might,"  and  yet  be  but  little  better  off"  than  "  One  that  pro- 
vide th  not  for  his  household." 

NEBRASKA. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ANALYSES  OF  THE  COTTON  PLANT,  WITH  SUGGESTIONS 
AS  TO  MANURES,  ETC. 


SEC.  i. — SHEPARD'S  ANALYSIS  OF  COTTON  WOOL  AND  SEED. 
1.   Cotton  Wool. 

ONE  hundred  parts  weight  of  cotton  wool,  on  being  heated 
in  a  platina  crucible,  so  long  as  brightly  burning  gas  continued 
to  be  emitted,  lost  SG'09  parts — the  residuum  being  a  perfectly 
charred  cotton,  which,  on  being  ignited  under  a  muffle,  until 
every  particle  of  carbon  was  consumed,  lost  12'9S5,  and  left 
almost  a  purely  white  ash,  whose  weight  was  rather  under  one 
per  cent.,  or  0'9247.  Of  this  ash,  about  forty -four  per  cent, 
was  found  to  be  soluble  in  water.  It  contained  12'88  per  cent, 
sand,  which  must  have  been  acquired  adventitiously,  in  the 
of  silicious  process  of  harvesting  the  fibre.  Deducting  the  sand 
from  the  ash,  the  constitution  of  the  latter  is  as  follows  : 
Carbonate  of  Potassa  (with  possible  traces  of  Soda),  .  44'19 
Phosphate  of  Lime,  with  traces  of  Magnesia,  .  25'44 

Carbonate  of  Lime,         .  ,  .  .  .8*87 

Carbonate  of  Magnesia,         ....  6*85 

Silica,      .  .  .         -,..;-      1^  .  .     4-12 

Alumina  (probably  accidental),         ;   ';         .  .  1'40 

Sulphate  of  Potassa,      v  .  .  .  •     2'70 

Chloride  of  Potassium, 
Chloride  of  Magnesium, 
Sulphate  of  Lime, 
Phosphate  of  Potassa, 
Oxide  Iron,  in  minute  traces,      J  100  00 


and  loss,    .  .  6-43 


[188] 


184 

But,  since  it  is  obvious,  that  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  above- 
mentioned  salts  must  have  been  derived  during  the  incinera- 
tion of  the  cotton,  the  following  view  will  more  certainly 
express  the  important  mineral  ingredients  abstracted  by  the 
cotton  from  the  soil,  for  every  100  parts  of  its  ash  : 

Potassa  (with  possible  traces  of  Soda),   . 

Lime,  ...... 

Magnesia,  ...... 

Phosphoric  Acid,  , 

Sulphuric  Acid,  ...... 

64-92 

For  every  10,000  Ibs.  of  cotton  wool,  then,  about  sixty  Ibs. 
of  the  above-mentioned  ingredients  are  subtracted  from  the 
soil,  in  the  proportion  indicated  by  the  numbers  appended, 
i.  e.,  (omitting  fractions:) 

Potassa,             .  .             .             .             .             .31  Ibs. 

Lime,           .  .             .             .             .                      17  " 

Magnesia,          .  .             .             .             .             .     3  " 

Phosphoric  Acid,  .             .             .             .                       12  " 

Sulphuric  Acid,  .             .             .             .              .     1  " 

Several  queries  were  submitted  to  me,  along  with  the  sample 
to  be  analyzed,  relative  to  the  effect  of  soils  on  cotton.  I  re- 
gret to  state  that  the  almost  total  ignorance  in  which  we  are 
still  left,  respecting  the  composition  of  the  varieties  of  this 
fibre,  and  the  soils  producing  them,  prevents  me  from  hazard 
ing  any  explanations  on  the  subject.  This  is  the  first  destruc- 
tive analysis  ever  made  (at  least  so  far  as  my  knowledge  ex- 
tends) of  the  cotton  wool.  Nor  am  I  acquainted  with  the 
properties  of  the  soil  which  afforded  it.  Prior  to  any  deduc- 
tions, it  is  clear  we  must  know  the  composition  of  each  variety 


ANALYSIS   OF   COTTON   WOOL   AND   SEED.  185 

of  cotton,  as  well  as  that  of  the  soil  it  affects.  At  present,  I 
can  only  venture  on  connecting  together  two  facts,  which  ap- 
pear to  occupy  important  relations  to  one  another.  The  soil 
of  St.  Stephens,  which  is  said  by  F.  A.  Porcher,  Esq.,  to  be  a 
stiff,  clayey  loam,  produces  the  strongest  and  finest  fibre  of 
the  Santee  varieties.  The  Sea  Island  qualities  are  supposed 
to  owe  their  superiority  to  the  use  of  marsh-mud,  which  I  have 
ascertained  to  be  a  clayey  admixture,  rich  in  alkalies  and 
alkaline  earths.  Whether  the  similarity  between  these  two 
staples  is  influenced  most  (if  it  is  affected  at  all),  by  the 
chemical  or  mechanical  qualities  of  the  soils  producing  them, 
it  is  impossible  to  decide.  It  is  also  conceivable,  that  the  two 
sets  of  qualities  may  conspire  to  one  and  the  same  end. 

2.   Cotton  Seed. 

One  hundred  parts,  heated  as  above,  lost  77*475,  and  the 
thoroughly  charred  residuum,  burned  under  the  muffle,  left 
3*856  parts  of  a  perfectly  white  ash.  The  composition  was 
found  to  be  as  follows  : 

Phosphate  of  Lime  (with  traces  of  Magnesia),  .  .  61*64 

Phosphate  of  Potassa  (with  traces  of  Soda),  .         31*51 

Sulphate  of  Potassa,        .....     2*55 

Silica,  .  .  .  .  .  .  1-74 

Carbonate  of  Lime,          .....       '41 

Carbonate  of  Magnesia,          ....  '26 

Carbonate  of  Potassium,  ....       '25 

Carbonate  of  Potassa, 
Sulphate  of  Lime, 
Sulphate  of  Magnesia, 
Alumina,  and  oxides  of  iron  and 


manganese,  in  traces, 


and  loss,     .  .         1*64 


100*00 


186  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

In  comparing  the  above  table  with  that  afforded  by  the 
cotton  wool,  a  marked  dissimilarity  presents  itself.  The  ash 
of  the  cotton  seed  is  four-fold  that  of  the  fibre ;  while  the  for- 
mer has  also  treble  the  phosphoric  acid  possessed  by  the  lat- 
ter, as  will  the  more  clearly  appear,  when  we  present  the 
analysis  under  another  form,  corresponding  with  the  second 
table  under  cotton  wool : 

Phosphoric  Acid,  . 

Lime,  ...... 

Potassa,  ...... 

Sulphuric  Acid,          ..... 

95-70 

From  the  foregoing  analysis,  it  would  appear  difficult  to 
imagine  a  vegetable  compound  better  adapted  for  fertilizing 
land,  than  the  cotton  seed ;  nor  can  we  any  longer  be  sur- 
prised at  the  well'  known  fact,  that  soils  long  cropped  with 
this  staple,  without  a  return  to  them  of  the  inorganic  matters 
withdrawn  in  the  seed,  become  completely  exhausted  and  un- 
productive. 


SECTION   II. — ANALYSES   OF   THE   COTTON  PLANT  AND    SEED  ! 
WITH   SUGGESTIONS   AS  TO   MANURES,   ETC. 

THE  natural  history  of  the  cotton  plant,*  and  improvement 
in  its  culture,  in  the  cotton-growing  States,  are  interesting 

*  German,  Kattonwolle,  Bau micolle ;  Dutch,  Ketocn,  Eoomicol;  Danish, 
Bomald;  Swedish,  Bomull;  Italian,  Cottone,  Bombagia ;  Spanish,  Algo- 
don ;  Portuguese,  A Igodno,  Algodeiro;  Russian,  Chlobts-chataza  bumaga; 
Polish,  Bawclna ;  Georgian,  Bomba,  Bamby ;  Latin,  Gossy^ium;  Greek, 
Bombyx,  Yylon;  Mongul,  Kobung ;  Hindoo,  Ruhi;  Malay,  Kapas ;  Indian, 
Kopa;  Chinese,  Cay-Haung,  Hoa-Micn.  Skinner,  the  Etymologist,  save, 


ANALYSES  OF   COTTON  PLANT  AND   SEED.  187 

subjects.  Originally  the  production  of  the  tropics,  it  has,  in 
our  country,  travelled  far  into  the  temperate  region,  and  flour- 
ishes on  a  belt  of  several  hundred  miles  wide ;  extending  from 
Virginia  along  the  sea  coast  to  our  western  limits  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Congeniality  of  climate,  seasons  and  soils,  has 
carried  the  cultivation  of  this  plant,  which  is  not  certainly 
ascertained  to  have  been  indigenous  to  the  United  States, 
much  further  than  it  was  at  first  expected  it  would  ever  be 
extended  ;  and  it  has  become  the  staple  of  all  those  parts  not 
actually  mountainous  in  the  southern  States.  Whilst  its  cul- 
ture has  most  rapidly  advanced  and  increased  in  every  sec- 
tion, the  planters  of  the  old  cotton-growing  States,  from  the 
exhaustion  of  their  soils,  and  the  lack  of  proper  systems  of 
rotation  and  manuring,  have  been  thrown  in  the  back 
ground  in  the  scale  of  profitable  production  by  their  more 
favored  rivals,  the  fortunate  possessors  of  the  virgin  lands  of 
the  south-west.  If  this  deficiency  is  ever  to  be  remedied — 
if  the  fertility  of  those  soils,  worn  out  in  the  oft-repeated  pro- 
duction of  cotton,  is  ever  to  be  restored,  and  permanently  im- 
proved for  the  future  culture  of  this  crop,  or  for  other  systems 
of  tillage,  it  must  be  done  under  a  proper  understanding  of 
what  constituents  are  to  be  restored  to  the  soil,  to  supply  the 
places  of  those  of  which  it  has  been  robbed.  How  far  a  cor- 
rect analysis  of  the  cotton  plant  and  seed,  will  enable  the 
present  generation  of  planters  to  remedy  the  lack  of  fertility 
in  their  impoverished  soils,  and  enhance  their  future  produc- 
tiveness for  this  crop,  it  is  difficult  to  determine ;  but  it  is  no 

that  cotton  is  so  called  from  its  similitude  to  the  down  which  adhered  to 
the  quince,  malie  cydoniis,  which  the  Italians  call  cotogni,  and  cotoquy 
manifestly  a  cydonis. 

Gossypium,  or  cotton,  a  genus  of  the  polyandria  order,  belonging  to  the 
monadelphia  class  of  plants,  and  in  the  natural  method  of  ranking,  under 
the  thirty-seventh  order,  Columniferge  — Encyc.  Britannia,  vol.  8,p.  21. 


1SS  COTTON    i-i  \\  ITK'S   M  \  v   \i  . 

in.  Ml.  -r  D|'  .-.]>(->  MI!,  if  i.  Mt.   to  a-.-,  erf .( Ii;i(    i:    is  ossent  iall  V    noee 
I'.M-  tin-  soil,  for  iln-  eei.-al  crops,  that  the    |>. r. i    industrious  do 
spoilm;-.  .>f  llu>    natural    elements,  rdiouhl    lurm-.h    .<i    j-.uide    for 
dim    io-.t. -ration       Tin-  an.ilvtir.il  in\  estimations    made  hy   tho 
author,    and    for    their    correctness    ivceivin}*    tho    sanction    of 
I'., .fe-.-.,M-   Von    laehi:;-.    the     most    celebrated    chemist    of    tho 
.1  ;o.  Mini  pvon  t'1  <!>«•  w.'ild  in  ili.-ir  |M."..-nt   sh.'ij>o,  fu o  not  in 
trndod  as  llu^  l»?i-;is  .-C  a   now   tli.-orv  lorllio    j>iodn»Mion    «')'  iho 
roUon  i-l.ini.  IMI(   inrn'I^    MS  sn-r.oMivo  .-raid--,  and    l>v   ivtnrn 
...;-,  to  Iho  s  iil  u  1ml   has  l>oon  lakon  from  it.  bvini;   al.ont  M  n-, 
torntion  offortility,  \slurl.  ^.11  romlor  its  cultivalion  |>n>litablo 
t«  «gr'u-nllnM,i,  in  :\\\\    otlu'i  mai  k ,-( aid,-  orops        NVhon.  how- 

ovtjr,  we  reflect  tlmt  of  the  one  thooiand  millions  of  pounds 

of  cotton,  jM-odnrr,!  in  tho  world,  njiwanl-;  of  t\v«-  linndiod  and 
liliN  n.dl.oi i-.  of  j.onnd-.  au>  ;-.io«n  in  tho  1'nilod  States,  wo 
loa.ldv  so,>  that  tlu>  in>i»ovtanoo  of  this  crop  suollin;-;  to  this 
onotiuons  amount  MUOO  17S|.whon  it  was  douhtod  at  I.ivor- 

pooli  that  10  much  as  r ij^Al  bates  could  be  produced  in  tin 

Country— demand!  nil  Hi.-..-  -.oiontitic  aids  l>v  \vhu-h  othor 
nations  lias  o  fostonvl  thoir  ntftnlo  njvi-ioultural  productions, 
and  thorohN  contribnto.!  to  national  JM,-..I(M::N  I'n-'laml.  \^ 
IUM  oomnuM-oial  onloi  pi  ;--o.  assinnod  tho  pinnaolo  of  national 
rank.  I  ho  ootton  plftlit,  Us  jM-.-dnctlOtti  And  ttdopttttion  to 
human  wants,  hv  i  n  a  n  n  luetttring  skill,  u  ill  :;.\o  tho  Mood  to 

invigorate  our  prosperity.  What  a  picture  of  prosperity  would 

ho   prosotitod.  if  wo   manufart urod    in  (':-.  .•'•>.<.  \    all    the 

cotton  :vrown  in  tho  State.  »n,:.  --alHciont  commercial   cap- 

1  i  concentrate  t  he  exportation  and  exchange 

of  the  manufactured  ,-n.    o,--..Vn   city.  Charleston  ! 

Added  to  this,  how  much  move  pleasant  u  oul«  he  the  pivs- 
po,-t  aho-.d,  '.'.  tho  cultivation  of  this  crop  was  so  ic-nlatod 

uTied  out  that  it  would  fit  tho  noil  for  the  increased  after 
production  of  the  grain  crops — those  crops  so  essential  to  the 
prowpcrity  of  the  world  1 


\NAI,YSKS    OK    COTTON    I'l   \\T    \M>    :  1  i  P  IS',) 


.//M///.V/V  (>/'///<•  .  |,S'/M  »/'//,'<•  ('. 


Qttn/ittrfirr  .!/M///\/\.  A  part  of  the  nsli  \\.-i-;  uLen  and 
kuled  with  distilled  \\aier.  di.-n  tiltcied.  (ho  tiltrato  acidulated 
with  nitric  nrid,  and  then  treated  with  nitrate  of  silver,  \  A  ;•,<>. 
NO  ~\  A  while  precipitate  of  chloride  ot'  silver  \\  as  formed, 
showing  the  presence  of  chlorine. 

On  .'iddiiuv  nun  i.-itii-  ;irid  (o  anolluvr   part  of  tho  ash,  an  of- 

l'cr\  (••..•diet1     look      jilarr.     slio\\  in;-;     the     piv.nut'     ot'    eMrhoilic, 
ar'nl 

Another  part  ot'lhe  :i-.h  \\.i^  l.ikrn  .-ind  di--.ol\ed  in  ninri 
.'it'n-  arid,  and  evaptirat.tMl  to  drvness  ;  (|HMI  moistened  \\ith  mu- 
riatic acid,  and  digested  \\  il  h  \\  .it  er  :i  i  tv.idne  ton:,  is!  in;-;  ol  coal, 
sand  and  silica,  remained  insoluldo.  The  j»resence  of  silicic  ac'ul 
was  proxed.  l»y  hoilin;';  the  resitlue  with  potiissn,  ^I'reo  of  silicic 
acid)  and  evap»»rat  in;-,  the  lild.ilc  in  tin-  pre-.ence  of  mini.  id.  • 
acid,  to  drvucNN,  (lion  moistening  with  muriatic  acid,  and  dis 
sol\  in:',  \\  uli  \\  ater,  the  silicic  acid  which  romaiuod  insolnhl.-  \ 
portion  ot'  tin'  litjiiid,  lYeed  t'roin  sand,  coal,  and  Nilicic.  acid, 
was  ne.  iily  nentrali/.ed  with  ammonia,  when,  upon  the  addition 
of  acetate  of  soda,  a  white  precipitate  of  phosphate  of  iron 

\\  i  ;  fonnod. 

'To  a  part  of  the  liquid  lillcrc.l  tVoni  (his  pii'cipilato.  ammo 
ni.i  wan  aihled,  which  formed  :i  \\]\\L^  precipitat(»,  H!IO\\  ui:- 
that  all  the  phosphoric  acid  was  not  in  combination  \\ilh  non 

To  another  part  ol'  (ho  liquid  tillered  from  (lie  precipitate 
o!  phosphate  ol  iron,  oxalale  ol  nnunonia  \\.i-;  added,  which 
formed  a  \\hite  precipitate  of  oxalale  ol'  lime 

Tin'.  li.|iiid  idler.  'd  In  >iu  this  pi  eci  |  >il  a  t  e  ,"i\e,  oil  the  ad 
dilion  ol  phosphate  ol'  soda  and  ammonia,  a  precipitate  ol 
phosphate  ol  magnesia  and  ammonia,  showin;1,'  (hi*  presence 

of  magnesia, 


190  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Another  part  of  the  liquid,  freed  from  sand,  coal,  and  silicic 
acid,  was  boiled  with  an  excess  of  baryta  water,  and  filtered. 
The  excess  of  barytes  in  the  filtrate  was  removed  by  carbonate 
of  ammonia  and  ammonia,  and  filtered — the  filtrate  was  evapo- 
rated to  dryness,  and  dissolved  in  a  small  quantity  of  water.  A 
part  of  this  solution  was  treated  with  bi-chloride  of  platinum  ; 
a  yellow  crystalline  precipitate  was  formed,  showing  the  pres- 
ence of  potassa. 

A  part  of  the  residue  was  tested  with  the  blow-pipe  for 
soda;  the  presence  of  which  was  proved. 

A  portion  of  the  liquid,  freed  from  sand  and  silica,  was 
treated  with  chloride  of  barium  ;  a  white  precipitate  of  sul- 
phate of  barytes  was  formed,  showing  the  presence  of 
sulphuric  acid. 

Quantitative  Analysis. — 6'lSl  grammes  of  the  ash  was  di- 
gested with  muriatic  acid,  and  evaporated  over  a  water  bath 
to  dryness.  The  residue  was  gently  ignited,  and  moistened 
with  muriatic  acid,  then  let  stand  for  half  an  hour,  after  which 
it  was  digested  with  water,  and  filtered  upon  a  weighed  filter. 
The  coal,  sand,  &c.,  remained  upon  the  filter,  and  was  washed 
out  with  boiling  water,  until,  on  evaporating  a  drop  of  the 
filtrate  on  the  platina  foil,  no  residue  remained. 

The  filter  was  now  dried,  and  all  the  sand,  coal,  &c.,  care- 
fully separated,  (in  order  not  to  damage  the  filter),  after 
which,  the  substance  which  was  on  the  filter  was  boiled  with 
potassa  in  a  platina  basin  over  a  water  bath  for  one  hour ; 
then  filtered  upon  the  same  filter,  washed  out  with  distilled 
water,  and  dried  at  two  hundred  and  twelve  degrees,  until  it 
remained  at  a  constant  weight.  After  deducting  the  weight 
of  the  filter,  there  remained  0*621  grammes  of  sand  and  coal. 

The  part  soluble  in  potassa,  was  mixed  with  muriatic  acid, 
(HC1,)  and  evaporated  over  a  water  bath  to  dryness;  then 
ignited,  and  moistened  with  muriatic  acid,  (HC1,)  and  dis- 


ANALYSES   OF   COTTON   PLANT   AND   SEED.  191 

sulved  in  water,  filtered  and  washed,  then  dried  and  burned. 
It  weighed,  after  burning,  0'403  grammes,  silicic  acid,  (Si02>) 

The  liquid  filtered  from  the  sand  and  silicic  acid,  (measured 
in  a  graduated  tube,)  was  found  to  contain  four  hundred  and 
eighty  cubic  centimetres,  which  was  divided  into  three  equal 
parts  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  cubic  centimetres,  each  = 
2'OGO  grammes  of  the  ash,  for  each  one  hundred  and  sixty 
cubic  centimetres  of  the  liquid. 

These  three  parts  will  be  termed  A,  13  and  C. 

In  A,  the  phosphate  of  iron,  lime  and  magnesia,  were  esti- 
mated. 

In  B,  the  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  entire  quantity  of  phos- 
phoric acid. 

In  C,  the  alkalies. 


The  liquid  A  was  nearly  neutralized  with  ammonia,  then 
acetate  of  soda  and  free  acetic  acid  were  added.  The  precip- 
itate was  left  standing  for  twenty-four  hours,  after  which  it 
was  filtered,  and  washed  out  with  boiling  water,  then  dried  and 
burned.  It  weighed  O346  grammes,  or,  for  the  entire  liquid, 
1-038  grammes  of  2FeA3PO5,  or  0*507  grammes  of  Fe.203 
(oxide  of  iron). 

The  liquid  filtered  from  the  precipitate  of  phosphate  of  iron 
was  treated  with  oxalate  of  ammonia.  The  precipitate  of 
oxalate  of  lime,  was  filtered,  washed,  dried  and  burned.  It 
weighed,  after  burning,  0'643  grammes  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
(CaO,CO,,)  or  for  the  entire  liquid,  1'929  grammes  of  CaC^Co,, 
=  T092  grammes  lime  (CaO). 

The  liquid  filtered  from  the  oxalate  of  lime,  was  evaporated 
over  a  water  bath,  to  a  smaller  volume,  then  phosphate  of  soda 
and  ammonia  were  added,  and  the  precipitate  left  standing  for 


192  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

two  days,  after  which  it  was  filtered  and  washed  out  with 
water  containing  one-eighth  of  ammonia,  and  bufned  until  it 
was  white.  It  gave  0'30 1  grammes  of  2MgO,  P05  (pyro- 
phosphate  of  magnesia),  or  for  the  entire  liquid,  0'903  grammes 
=  0*330  grammes  MgO  (magnesia). 

B. 

The  solution  B  was  precipitated  while  boiling  with  chloride 
of  barium,  and  left  standing  on  a  sand-bath  for  twenty-four 
hours,  then  filtered  and  washed  with  boiling  water,  dried,  and 
burned.  It  gave  0'079  grammes  sulphate  of  barytes  (BaO, 
SO,),  or  for  the  entire  liquid,  0'237  grammes  (BaO,  S03) 
=  0-081  grammes  sulphuric  acid  (S03). 

The  liquid  filtered  from  the  precipitate  of  BaO,  S03,  was 
mixed  with  per-chloride  of  iron  and  acetate  of  soda,  and  boil- 
ed for  five  minutes  in  a  large  flask ;  then  the  precipitate  of 
phosphate  of  iron,  and  basic  acetate  of  iron,  was  filtered  while 
warm,  and  washed  with  boiling  water,  until  on  evaporating  a 
drop  of  the  filtrate  there  remained  no  residue. 

The  precipitate  was  dissolved  while  moist,  in  as  small  a 
quantity  of  muriatic  acid  as  possible.  Tartaric  acid  and  am- 
monia were  now  added  in  excess,  when  to  the  clear  yellow- 
colored  solution,  a  mixture  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  chloride 
of  ammonia  was  added,  to  prevent  a  precipitate  of  magnesia. 
The  precipitate  was  left  standing  for  two  days,  after  which  it 
was  filtered  and  washed  out  with  water  containing  ammonia. 
When  dried,  burned  and  weighed,  it  gave  0'442  grammes  of 
2MgO,  P05,  or  for  the  entire  liquid,  1'326  grammes  of  2MgO, 
P06  =  0'837  grammes  phosphoric  acid  (P03). 

C. 

Baryta  water  was  added  to  this  solution,  until  an  alkaline 


ANALYSES  OF  COTTON  PLANT  AND  SEED.      193 

reaction  had  taken  place,  then  boiled  and  filtered.  The  excess 
of  barytes  in  the  filtrate  was  removed  with  carbonate  of  am- 
monia and  free  ammonia — the  filtrate  was  evaporated  over  a 
water-bath  to  dryness,  and  ignited  until  it  was  free  from  all 
ammoniacal  salts,  then  dissolved  in  water.  Some  magnesia  re- 
maining insoluble,  was  filtered  off,  and  the  filtrate  again  evapo- 
rated to  dryness,  and  ignited,  then  weighed.  It  gave  0*770 
grammes  of  the  chlorides  of  the  alkalies,  which  is  for  the  en- 
tire liquid,  2*310  grammes.  These  alkalies  were  again  dis- 
solved in  a  small  quantity  of  water,  and  the  potassa  estimated 
with  bi-chloride  of  platinum,  which  gave,  after  being  evaporat- 
ed with  alcohol  over  a  water-bath,  2'356  grammes  of  double 
chloride  of  potassium  and  chloride  of  platinum  (KC1,  PtCL.2), 
or  for  the  entire  liquid,  7*068  grammes  (KC1,  PtCl,).  This  re- 
presents 2*157  grammes  chloride  of  potassium  (KC1),  or  1*326 
grammes  potassa  (KO). 

There  remains,  consequently,  after  subtracting  the  chloride 
of  potassium  from  the  chlorides  of  the  alkalies,  as  follows,  the 
amount  of  chloride  of  sodium,  which  is  estimated  as  loss,  thus 
2-310  KC1,  NaCl— 2-157,  KC1.  =0'53  (NaCl),  chloride  ot 
sodium.  2*970  grammes  of  the  ash  was  boiled  with  distilled 
water,  and  filtered.  The  filtrate  was  acidulated  with  nitric 
acid,  then  precipitated  with  nitrate  of  silver.  It  gave  0*044 
grammes  of  chloride  of  silver  (AgCl),  or  0'022  grammes  chlo- 
rine (Cl),  also,  0*153  grammes,  NaCl, — 0-037  grammes,  NaCl. 
=  0-116  grammes  chloride  of  sodium  (NaCl),  =  0*061 
grammes  soda  (NaO). 

1*066  grammes  of  the  ash  gave  0*168  grammes  carbonic  acid 
(CO*).  The  following  is  the  per  centage  of  the  constituents  in 
LOO  parts  of  the  ash. 


I'M  oorvox  n,.\XTK«'s  MAXTAI. 


roi  \n  IM;  i  \  \i  u.r 

-    ,Wi,l.     .  ,  0   li>;; 

0<*1,    ,        ,  0*ti         KVI   s.aul  and 


.         ,  \  W          I.  ^;  i 

Ox  .....    M.>    ;,-:  . 


:    TO 


.vu,  %     fries     i#n  0<V 

10149 

AKAIAW  0»  T««  ASM  OF  COTTON  SIM 


l«kMi  «ni  diW,  Hi  tit  d<f  ^  until 


4*4—  HA  Mttd  TO*  difed,  witU 


ANALYSES   OP    COTTON    PLANT   AND   SEEP. 


195 


The  following  are  the  results — 1*882  grammes  of  the  ash  was 


used : 

FOUND. 

Phosphoric  Acid, 

Oxide  of  Iron,   . 

Coal,     . 

Sulphuric  Acid, 

Oxide  of  Lime, 

Oxide  of  Magnesia, 

Potassa, 

Soda, 

Silicic  Acid, 

Loss  and  Chlorine, 


0-667 
0-075 
0020 
0060 
0-204 
0-200 
0-523 
0-051 


PER  CENTAGE. 

35-43  PO5. 

3-33  Fe2O3. 

1-05  Coal. 

3-19  S03. 
10-88  CaO. 
10-61  MgO. 
27-82  KO. 

2-75  NaO. 

Trace. 
4'84 


100-00 
Suggestive  Remarks. 

On  examining  the  foregoing  analysis  of  the  cotton  seed,  we 
see  that  they  abound  in  the  phosphates  and  alkalies.  Drs. 
Will  and  Fresenius,  in  their  analysis  of  the  cereal  grains, 
show  that  wheat  also  abounds  largely  in  these  constituents. 

In  order  to  enable  the  reader  to  make  the  comparison,  we 
give  the  analysis  of  red  and  white  wheat,  as  published  by 
them.  It  is  as  follows  : 


RED. 

WHITE. 

Potassa,  ..... 

20SO 

30-17 

Soda,    

15-01 

Lime,        ..... 

1-83 

2-76 

Magnesia,     .... 
Peroxide  of  Iron, 

9-12 
1-29 

12-08 
0-28 

Phosphoric  Acid, 
Silica,       

46-91 
0-15 

43-89 

Charcoal  and  Sand, 

4-89 

9-03 

10000         98-21 


196  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

All  these  constituents  being  derived  directly  from  the  soil, 
plainly  indicate  the  reasons  why  our  lands  in  the  South  are  so 
easily  exhausted.  The  crops  extensively  cultivated  here  all 
require,  in  a  great  measure,  the  same  food  from  the  soil  ;  and 
hence  soils  which  will  not  produce  cotton,  are  alike  incapable 
of  producing  the  cereal  crops.  The  great  benefit  derived  from 
the  application  of  cotton  seed  as  a  manure  to  these  crops,  is 
accounted  for  from  the  same  causes ;  an  abundance  of  phos- 
phates being  given  in  their  application  to  the  soil. 

FALLOWING. — A  system  of  tillage  which  carries  away  an- 
nually so  large  a  proportion  of  these  natural  essentials  to 
vegetation,  and  which  provides  no  means  of  returning  them, 
must  necessarily  impoverish  any  soil.  A  fixed  principle  in  the 
agriculture  of  all  countries  where  the  prosperity  of  the  future 
has  at  all  been  regarded,  has  been  the  gradual  but  certain 
improvement  of  the  soil.  This  is  necessary  for  the  support  of 
increased  population ;  and  in  the  Slave  States,  where  there  has 
been  such  an  extraordinary  and  rapid  increase  of  the  laboring 
population,  it  should  never  be  lost  sight  of.  The  intensity  of 
our  southern  sunshine  prevents,  in  a  great  measure,  the  annual 
coat  of  grass  which  supplies  vegetable  matter  to  the  soil  in 
northern  climates;  and  the  never-ending  occupation  of  the 
soils,  by  our  system  of  culture,  prevents  the  natural  improve- 
ment which  in  other  countries  is  carried  out  by  fallowing.  We 
are  well  aware  that  fallowing  is  generally  objected  to  in  the 
South ;  and  we  think  where  fallow  is  converted  into  pasture 
land,  and  taxed  during  the  whole  season  for  the  production  of 
herbage  to  sustain  greedy  herds,  the  system  might  well  come 
into  disrepute.  Planters,  too,  object  to  fallowing,  and  say  they 
have  not  land  enough  to  allow  one-half  to  lie  idle,  &c. ;  but 
reason,  and  justice  to  the  noble  occupation  of  agriculture,  al- 
lows this  objection  to  pass  unheeded  ;  and  its  fallacy  is  proven 
by  the  desert  wastes  of  "  old  fields? — an  agricultural  feature 


ANALYSES   OP   THE    COTTON   PLANT   AND   SEED.        197 

only  common  to  the  New  World,  and,  we  blush  to  say  it,  only 
visible  in  the  Southern  or  planting  States.  In  Europe,  where 
arable  soil,  compared  to  population,  is  a  thousand  times  scarcer 
than  in  the  Southern  States,  the  agriculturists  find  fallowing 
a  remunerative  system.  It  is  but  little  understood  in  American 
agriculture,  and  we  may  be  pardoned  for  giving  the  proper 
details  for  fallowing,  believing  it  to  be  the  cheapest  manner 
of  renovating  our  soils.  A  field  intended  for  fallow,  should  be 
deeply  ploughed  in  mid-winter ;  the  deeper  the  ploughing  the 
better.  This  is  simple  preparation,  but  nevertheless  necessary ; 
and,  above  all  things,  keep  every  description  of  stock  off  in 
the  field.  The  porousness  of  the  soil  will  facilitate  tlie  assim- 
ilation of  the  natural  salts  of  the  earth,  and  atmospheric 
action,  with  the  dissolving  influence  of  the  rains,  will  generally 
bring  to  the  aid  of  the  succeeding  crop  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
these  for  its  production.  Late  in  autumn  the  herbage  should 
be  turned  under.  This  process  exerts  chemical  and  natural 
influences  beneficial  to  the  soil, — First :  as  by  decomposition 
of  vegetable  matter  carbonic  acid  is  produced,  which  is  known 
to  act  as  a  powerful  solvent  of  phosphated  alkalies, — Secondly : 
those  portions  of  the  grass  and  weeds  not  readily  decomposable, 
when  admixed  with  the  soil,  give  it  that  friability  so  necessary 
to  easy  tillage,  and  thus  aids  the  agriculturist  in  his  future 
labors.  A  bastard  system  of  fallowing  might,  by  the  aid  of 
the  black  and  red  tory  pea,  be  judiciously  adopted  in  the 
cotton-growing  States.  Owing  to  their  imperviousness  to  wet, 
they  can  be  sown  in  mid-winter,  and,  vegetating  in  the  Spring 
without  the  aid  of  cultivation,  generally  make,  upon  ordinarily 
productive  land,  a  sufficient  crop  to  protect  it  from  the  sun  in 
Summer,  and  smother  out  those  weeds  which  are  such  a  pest 
to  cultivated  crops.  The  constituents  of  the  Indian  pea — known 
to  be  in  a  great  measure  derived  from  the  atmosphere — would 
in  all  probability  furnish  a  better  green  crop  for  subversion, 


198  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

than  the  natural  grasses  and  weeds.  Judicious  fallowing  is, 
therefore,  in  our  opinion,  the  cheapest,  and  by  far  the  easiest 
mode  of  renovating  and  preserving  the  productiveness  of  our 
Boils,  and,  if  adopted  and  regularly  persevered  in,  would 
heighten  both  the  production  and  value  of  our  cotton  lands. 


COMPOST  MANURE. — Much  may  be  effected  in  reclaiming 
worn-out  cotton  lands,  by  a  good  system  of  Compost  Manur- 
ing ;  the  benefits  of  which  have  been  forced  upon  our  Agri- 
culturists by  the  gradual  accumulation  of  animal  manures,  and 
the  decomposition  of  wasted  vegetable  matter,  in  and  around 
their  barn-yards.  It  is  a  system  which  should  be  so  generally 
understood  and  practised,  that  we  deem  it  unnecessary  to 
make  other  than  a  few  remarks  respecting  the  increase  of  this 
manure  and  its  application.  It  is  a  mistaken  idea,  that  the 
planter  gains  by  hauling  into  his  barn-yard,  the  stalks  from 
his  corn  and  cotton  fields,  in  order  to  convert  them  into  com- 
post manure.  Their  elements  would  be  returned  to  the  soil, 
by  the  certain  law  of  vegetable  decomposition,  if  suffered  to 
remain  on  the  fields,  and  their  place  in  the  compost  heap  can 
be  supplied  easily  by  litter  and  leaves  from  the  forests, 
grasses,  weeds,  and  muck  from  the  marshes,  ditches,  and 
fence  rows  on  the  farm.  Weeds,  abounding  in  the  alkalies, 
furnish  profitable  vegetable  matter  for  composting.  In  addi- 
tion to  these,  we  have  the  rotten  wood  and  forest  leaves,  which 
are  so  abundant  on  all  hands.  Muck  or  peat,  being  decayed 
vegetable  matter  in  mass,  in  this  concentrated  form  contains 
a  large  amount  of  phosphates  and  alkalies — and  when  mingled 
with  the  droppings  of  animals,  forms  a  compost  highly  reten- 
tive of  substances  thus  imparted,  which  it  yields  most  readily 
to  the  growing  crops  to  which  it  is  applied.  Compost  when 


ANALYSES   OP   THE   COTTON   PLANT   AND   SEED.        199 

applied  in  winter,  does  not  require  to  be  thoroughly  deconi' 
posed,  but  when,  as  is  the  case  on  crops  where  it  is  applied 
in  the  spring,  and  its  elements  are  demanded  immediately  by 
the  young  plants,  its  decomposition  should  be  perfect.  The 
compost  heap  should  be  protected  from  the  rains,  in  order  to 
prevent  those  salts  rendered  soluble  by  moisture,  from  being 
washed  away.  It  would  add  much  to  the  value  of  compost 
manure,  if  the  water  collecting  on  the  roofs  of  farm  buildings 
was  -carried  in  gutters  entirely  beyond  the  yard,  and  not  al- 
lowed to  flow  through  it,  which  would  be  greatly  facilitated 
by  a  concentration  of  farm  buildings. 

Every  domestic  animal  if  properly  confined  and  quartered, 
when  not  in  use  or  grazing,  would  amply  repay  for  the  trouble 
in  attending  to  it,  and  the  filth  from  the  wash  house,  sterco- 
rary,  pig-pen,  hen-house,  and  pigeon-cote,  so  much  neglected 
amongst  us,  would  if  properly  hoarded,  furnish  most  valuable 
ingredients  to  the  heap.  A  concentration  of  all  that  is  essen- 
tial to  the  production  of  our  cultivated  plants,  being  found  in 
the  component  parts  of  this  fertilizer — derivable  from  the 
cereal  food  consumed  by  animals,  and  the  phosphate  and  alka- 
line properties  of  the  weeds,  grasses,  &c.,  makes  it  at  once 
the  best  and  cheapest  form  of  applying  vegetable  and  animal 
manures  for  the  immediate  production  of  a  crop,  at  the  com- 
mand of  our  planters.  The  quantity  might  be  increased  on 
every  plantation  in  the  State,  to  a  degree  which  would  make 
its  manufacture  profitable.  This,  however,  will  never  be 
done  until  fewer  acres  are  planted,  which  will  enable  them  to 
manure  more  land. 

BONE  MANURE. — Bones,  according  to  Berzilius,  contain 
55  per  cent.,  of  the  phosphates  of  lime  and  magnesia.  The 
relative  value  of  the  bones  of  different  animals  varies  in  their 
constituents,  and  also  from  the  difference  in  age,  their  value 
being  increased  with  years.  The  bones  upon  every  farm  would 


200  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

furnish,  if  preserved  and  applied,  a  considerable  amount  of  the 
best  and  most  durable  fertilizer,  which  is  peculiarly  adapted 
to  the  production  of  the  cotton  crop.  This  is  proven  by  the 
identity  of  the  constituents  which  compose  bones,  and  are  found 
in  the  cotton  plant.  The  planter  in  the  marl  regions,  espe^ 
cially  where  fossil  bones  and  shells  abound,  has  an  abundant 
supply  of  native  phosphate  of  lime,  which  only  requires  pul- 
verization, to  render  it  almost  as  useful  as  the  recent  bones. 
Phosphates  in  the  bones  comprise  their  chief  value,  which  is 
shown  by  the  fact,  that  they  make  a  fertilizer  equally  as  val- 
uable, after  the  fatty  matter  has  been  extracted  by  soap 
boilers,  as  before — hence,  all  old  bones  might  be  rendered 
valuable  if  properly  applied.  Guano,  the  most  powerful  fer- 
tilizer applicable  to  husbandry,  being  the  ordure  of  sea-birds, 
it  is  known,  derives  its  great  value  from  the  amount  of  bone 
earth  it  contains.  We  therefore  regard  the  annual  waste  of 
bones  on  plantations  in  the  South,  where  more  animal  food  is 
consumed  than  by  any  other  people  in  the  world,  as  the  most 
suicidal  disregard  of  that  economy,  which  has  furnished  the 
axiom  to  agriculturists — "  that  manure  is  wealth.'" 

Many  arguments  abound  to  favor  the  adoption  of  bones  as 
manure  amongst  us.  One  is,  they  can  easily  be  preserved, 
and  it  only  requires  the  same  labor  to  do  this  that  it  does  to 
throw  them  away.  Another  argument  in  their  favor  is,  that 
a  laborer,  in  a  sack,  can  transport  to  a  distant  field,  bone 
manure  which  will  furnish  more  constituents  to  the  crop,  than 
can  be  concentrated  in  a  four-horse  load  of  the  best  stable 
dung,  or  compost  manure — still  another,  is  the  little  labor  it 
inquires  to  apply  them  to  the  soil.  The  great  secret  of  apply- 
ing bones  to  the  soil,  is  found  in  pulverizing  them  into  as 
finely  separated  particles  as  possible,  which  fits  them  for  the 
operation  of  speedy  atmospheric  influence — in  order  that  their 
constituents  may  be  taken  up  rapidly  by  the  plants.  Grind- 


ANALYSES  OF  THE   COTTON   PLANT  AND  SEED.        201 

ing,  crushing  and  burning,  are  the  usual  modes,  but  in  order 
to  fit  the  crushed  "bones  or  bone  ashes  for  the  greatest  produc- 
tion, Professor  Von  Liebig,  recommends  the  following  process  : 

Pour  over  the  crushed  bones  or  bone  ashes,  half  their  weight 
of  sulphuric  acid,  diluted  with  four  parts  of  water,  and  after 
they  have  been  digested  for  twenty -four  hours,  add  one  hun- 
dred parts  of  water — sprinkle  this  mixture  over  the  field  imme- 
diately before  ploughing.  By  its  action,  in  a  few  seconds  the 
free  acids  unite  with  the  bases  contained  in  the  earth,  a 
neutral  salt  is  formed,  in  a  very  fine  state  of  division.  Ex- 
periments instituted  on  soils,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  action  of  manure  prepared  in  this  manner,  have  distinctly 
shown  that  neither  grain,  nor  kitchen  garden  plants,  suffer 
injurious  effects  in  consequence,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
they  thrive  with  much  more  vigor  after  its  application.  ( Vide 
Von  Liebig' s  Organic  Chemistry,  American  Edition,  p.  230.) 

Another  theory  of  application,  by  the  great  French  chemist, 
M.  Dumas,  the  substance  of  which  we  give  from  his  article 
(contained  in  Comptes  Rendus,  Nov.  30,  1846, p.  1018,)  "On 
the  Manner  in  which  Phosphate  of  Lime  enters  Organized 
Beings,"  is  interesting.  He  remarks,  that  the  phosphate  of 
lime  being  insoluble  in  water,  nevertheless  penetrates,  and  is 
deposited  in  their  structure,  and  bones  containing  it  are  slowly 
disintegrated  by  the  soil  and  disappear  after  a  time,  under 
the  influence  of  the  rains.  The  investigations  of  M.  Dumas 
discovered  two  causes  producing  these  effects — the  one  acting 
rarely  and  feebly — the  other  constantly,  and  with  great  in 
tensity. 

The  first  resides  in  a  property  possessed  by  salammoniac, 
which  facilitates  the  solution  of  phosphate  of  lime.  Though 
this  salt  dissolves  a  notable  quantity,  and  exists  in  all  running 
waters — yet,  this  slight  proportion  renders  its  action  in  this 
respect  inconsiderable. 
9* 


202  COTTOX  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

The  second  is  found  in  the  action  of  carbonic  acid ;  and  in 
this,  the  true  solvent  of  phosphate  of  lime  is  to  be  found — for 
water  impregnated  with  carbonic  acid  dissolves  large  quanti- 
ties of  phosphate  of  lime.  M.  M.  Berzilius  and  Thenard,  had 
remarked  the  alkalies  and  ebullition,  by  driving  off,  or  neu- 
tralizing the  carbonic  acid  which  precipitated  it. 

M.  Dumas,  believing  the  action  of  the  carbonic  acid  to  be 
such  as  above  stated,  did  not  doubt  the  effect  it  would  pro- 
duce on  the  bones  themselves.  He  therefore  introduced  plates 
of  ivory  into  bottles  of  Seltzer  water,  (which  contains  a  great 
deal  of  carbonic  acid,)  and  they  were  as  much  softened  in 
twenty -four  hours,  as  if  acted  on  by  dilute  hydro-chloric  acid, 
which  is  also  a  powerful  solvent  of  phosphate  of  lime.  The 
Seltzer  water  was  found  loaded  with  phosphate  of  lime,  and 
the  experiment  proved  the  action  of  carbonic  acid  as  its  sol- 
vent, to  be  both  rapid  and  certain.  I  am  sure  this  discovery 
will  be  of  importance  to  the  Agricultural  world. 

I  would  call  the  attention  of  physiologists  to  this  property 
in  carbonic  acid,  as  it  satisfactorily  explains  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  phosphate  of  lime  into  plants.  Of  course,  it  would 
not  be  practicable  to  dissolve  the  phosphate  of  lime  by  the 
aid  of  Seltzer  water,  but  the  preparation  of  bone  ashes  by  its 
known  and  powerful  constituent,  might  be  rendered  available 
in  the  following  manner.  Where  bone  powder  or  ashes  is 
intended  for  manuring  soil  destitute  of  vegetable  matter,  let 
them  be  mixed  with  leaves  or  other  organic  matter,  and  its 
decomposition  with  the  aid  of  the  rains  and  atmospherical 
influence,  will  create  a  sufficient  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  to 
assimilate  the  phosphates  in  such  a  form,  that  they  will  be 
readily  taken  up  by  the  organism  of  the  plants. 

How  easily  could  a  planter  manure  a  few  acres  of  cotton 
with  bone  powder  or  ashes  !  When  all  the  bones  are  hoarded 
as  gold,  and  their  true  value  known,  they  will  be  appreciated. 


ANALYSES   OF   THE    COTTON   PLANT   AND   SEED.        203 

Then  a  bone  mill  for  crushing,  and  simple  apparatus  for  their 
chemical  reduction,  will  be  as  essential  to  producing  the  crop, 
as  a  grinding  mill  is,  to  prepare  grain  for  the  food  of  man. 

WOOD  ASHES,  containing  phosphates  and  alkalies,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  where  they  abound,  may  be  used  advan- 
tageously as  a  manure  for  cotton. 

LIME,  being  useful  in  decomposing  and  ameliorating  ad- 
hesive soils,  might  be  profitably  employed  in  the  permanent 
improvement  of  cotton  lands. 

Common  potter's  clay,  diffused  through  water  and  added 
to  milk  of  Lime,  thickens  immediately  upon  mixing,  and  if 
the  mixture  be  kept  for  some  months,  and  an  acid  be  added, 
the  clay  becomes  gelatinous,  which  is  the  effect  of  the  admix- 
ture of  the  lime.  The  lime  in  combining  with  the  elements 
of  the  clay  liquifies  it,  and  what  is  more  remarkable  liberates 
the  greater  portion  of  its  alkalies.  These  interesting  facts,  so 
important  to  the  scientific  world,  were  first  observed  by  M. 
Fuchs,  at  Munich,  and  led  to  the  explanation  of  the  effects  of 
caustic  lime  upon  the  soil,  which  furnishes  the  agriculturist 
with  an  invaluable  means  of  opening  it,  and  setting  free  its 
alkalies — substances  so  indispensable  to  the  production  of  his 
crops.  (For  further  facts  concerning  lime,  and  its  application 
to  Agriculture,  see  Liebig's  Organic  Chemistry,  which  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  every  one.)  The  lime  lands  of  the  West 
producing  abundant  crops  of  cotton,  so  long  as  furnished  with 
vegetable  matter,  shows  that  lime  alone,  upon  exhausted  soils, 
would  prove  a  doubtful  aid. 

We  could  add  suggestion  after  suggestion,  relative  to  the 
aids  to  be  applied  to  tho-production  of  cotton,  upon  exhausted 
soils,  but  these  being  the  most  important,  we  shall  dispense 
with  the  boundless  materials  which  lie  abundantly  around  us, 
and  only  need  transporting  to  our  fields  in  order  to  benefit 
them.  It  was  a  matter  of  surprise  to  Professor  Von  Liebig, 


204  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

that  any  soil  not  furnished  by  artificial  means  with  the  pre- 
ponderating constituents  of  the  cotton  plant  and  cotton  seed, 
should  produce  a  crop  abounding  in  the  phosphates.  This 
leads  me  to  further  investigations,  and  a  rich  field  of  research 
still  lies  unexplored,  in  the  analytical  examination  of  the  cot- 
ton soils  of  the  South  and  West. 


SECTION    III. — REPORT    ON   THE    ANALYSIS    OF    COTTON    AND 

ITS  SOIL. 

OFFICE  OF  STATE  CHEMIST,  29  EXCHANGE  BUILDINGS,  ) 
BALTIMORE,  Nov.  7, 1854.      \ 

THE  following  report  on  an  examination  and  analysis  of  Sea 
Island  Cotton  Fibre  and  Seed,  and  the  soil  on  which  it  grew, 
(the  samples  being  carefully  taken  by  the  State  Chemist  on  a 
late  visit  to  Edisto  Island,)  was  made  for  an  intimate  friend, 
(who  owns  large  plantations  of  sea  island,)  in  order  to  recom- 
mend a  manure  best  adapted  to  the  growth  of  this  national 
staple  ;  but  inasmuch  as  a  subject  of  such  vast  consequence 
as  the  increased  production  of  the  cotton  plant  should  be 
placed  before  the  country  at  large,  I  with  pleasure  accede  to 
your  request,  and  furnish  you  for  publication  with  the  analy- 
sis of  the  cotton  fibre,  cotton  seed,  and  cotton  soil,  in  order  that 
a  manure  may  be  compounded  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the 
plant  and  corresponding  to  the  deficiencies  of  the  soil  upon 
which  it  is  cultivated,  and  that  the  benefits  of  its  use  may  be 
extended  as  far  as  this  variety  of  cotton  is  cultivated. 

Any  substance  added  to  a  soil  to  increase  its  products,  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  the  constituents  of  the  substance,  the  de- 
ficiencies of  the  soil,  and  the  requirements  of  the  crop,  must 
depend  for  its  success  on  mere  accident  and  lucky  guess- 
work ;  whilst  a  manure  compounded  with  reference  to  the 
wants  of  the  soil  and  nature  of  the  crop  grown  on  it,  must  be 


ANALYSIS   OP   COTTON  AND   ITS   SOIL.  205 

successful,  because  used  on  rational  principles,  and  as  a  causo 
to  produce  an  effect,  having  a  direct  connection  with  and  de- 
pendent on  it. 

The  cotton  plant,  like  every  other  plant,  requires  for  its 
perfection  certain  climate  influences,  proper  cultivation,  and  a 
soil  of  proper  physical  texture,  containing  substances  which 
do  not  and  cannot  exist  in  the  atmosphere.  All  plants  derive 
one  part  of  their  nourishment  from  the  air,  and  another  part, 
their  mineral  constituents,  or  ash,  from  the  soil.  Lime,  mag- 
nesia, potash  and  soda,  with  various  combinations  of  chloride, 
phosphoric  and  sulphuric  acid,  are  necessary — absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  growth  of  the  cotton  plant.  Without  these  no 
cotton  plant  has  ever  existed,  and  they  cannot  be  obtained 
from  the  atmosphere,  (with  the  exception  of  chloride  and  soda 
under  particular  circumstances,)  and  therefore  they  must 
either  exist  in  the  soil,  or  be  supplied  by  the  application  of 
manure,  or  this  plant  will  not  grow.  Manures,  therefore,  are 
nothing  but  substances  necessary  to  the  growth  of  a  plant, 
which  are  deficient  in  the  soil.  If  any  soil  contained  all  the 
substances  which  a  plant  required,  in  proper  form  for  its  use, 
there  could  be  no  manure  for  this  soil,  because  there  would  be 
no  deficiency  to  supply,  and  the  plant  grown  on  it  would  reach 
a  degree  of  perfection  limited  only  by  the  influence  of  its  cul- 
tivation, and  the  climate.  If  on  a  soil  containing  all  of  these 
substances  no  manure  would  act,  then  on  a  soil  deficient  in 
any  one  of  them,  a  manure  would  act  only  by  supplying  that 
deficiency,  and  should  contain  nothing  but  the  substance  de- 
ficient. All  others  would  be  useless. 

To  manure  any  soil,  then,  as  ^  matter  of  course,  its  de- 
ficiencies should  be  ascertained,  and  the  manure  made  with 
reference  to  those  deficiencies.  These  deficiencies  can  be 
ascertained  in  two  ways  ;  the  one  by  a  long-continued  course 
of  practical  experiments,;  the  other  by  chemical  analysis  of 


206  COTTOX  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

the  soil  and  plant.  The  world  has  depended,  from  its  earliest 
ages,  upon  the  first  mode.  With  what  success,  the  condition 
of  agriculture,  until  the  past  ten  years,  will  best  answer. 
Improvement  only  reached  a  certain  point,  and  that  a  very 
low  one,  and  then  ceased.  Practical  farming  was  as  good  in 
the  days  of  Augustus  as  in  the  days  of  Washington.  Farm- 
ing was  as  well  conducted  in  Italy  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago,  as  in  the  United  States  or  England,  twenty  years  ago. 
Mere  practice,  then,  without  the  aid  of  science,  failed  to  lay 
down  a  rational  manuring  system  for  the  growth  of  wheat  or 
.any  other  crop  ;  and  if  practical  experiment  failed  to  do  this 
for  wheat  in  eighteen  centuries,  how  much  less  has  it  done  for 
cotton  in  fifty  years  ?  How  much  more  will  it  do  for  it  in  the 
next  five  hundred  1  Agriculture,  with  the  aid  of  both  practi- 
cal experiment  and  chemical  science,  has  advanced,  in  the 
manuring  of  the  wheat  crop,  more  within  the  last  twenty 
years  than  in  the  five  hundred  preceding  it.  Have  we  not, 
then,  just  reason  for  the  belief  that  if  so  much  has  been  done 
for  the  art  of  agriculture  by  the  application  of  a  science  yet 
in  its  youth,  its  manhood  will  give  results  which  we  now  do 
not  dream  of?  Should  not  the  cotton  plant  avail  itself  of  this 
new  aid  to  its  culture  and  productions,  and  use  the  means 
which  it  affords  with  a  liberal  hand  !..:...-.•  * 

The  effect  which  we  desire,  is  the  production  of  the  cotton 
plant  in  its  greatest  perfection. 

The  causes  of  production  are  the  physical  state  of  the  soil, 
the  climate,  the  cultivation  of  the  crop,  and,  when  required, 
manuring.  We  shall  not  speak  of  the  physical  character  of 
the  soil  in  this  place  ;  nor  of  the  climate,  because  it  is  beyond 
our  influence ;  nor  of  cultivation,  because  that  can  be  best 
done  by  the  owner  by  means  within  his  own  control. 

What  are  the  substances  necessary  to  the  growth  of  the  cot- 
ton plant  ?  Are  all  or  any  of  these  deficient  in  the  soil  ?  If 


ANALYSIS  OF  MOTION  AND   ITS  SOIL.  207 

so,  then  the  manure  best  adapted  to  the  soil  is  the  one  most 
abounding  in  the  deficiencies  of  the  soil,  and  such  a  manure 
must  be  recommended  by  the  teaching  of  science,  aided  by 
all  the  lights  of  experience. 

First.  What  are  the  substances  necessary  to  the  growth  of 
the  cotton  plant  which  exist  in  the  soil  ? 

The  cotton  plant,  like  other  plants,  is  composed  of  two 
grand  classes  of  organs,  one  directly  and  the  other  indirectly 
tending  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  species ;  the  first  is  the  stalk 
and  leaves,  the  second  the  seed  and  its  appendage,  the  cotton 
fibre  or  wool. 

The  following  table  of  the  analysis  of  the  Cotton  Fibre  and 
Seed,  shows  the  composition  of  each,  and  the  proportionate 

quantity  of  the  substances  which  they  require  : 

• 

COTTON, 

General  Per  Centagc,  Components  of,  as  to 

FIBRE.  SEED. 

Water, 4'72  9*51 

Organic  Matter, 94'03  86'46 

Ash  or  Mineral  Matter,       ....       1'25  4  03 

100-00       100-00 

Per  Ccntage  Composition  of  tlie  above  Ash  or  Mineral  Matter. 

FIBRE.  SEED. 

Potash, 35-26  34'75 

Soda, 5-11  1-10 

Lime,          .                  16-73  6'00 

Magnesia,        .  % 9'47  13-73 

Peroxide  of  Iron, 2" 07  0'55 

Silicic  Acid, 0'26  trace. 

Phosphoric  Acid,                                      '.  5*42  35*85 

Sulphuric  Acid 3'53  3'96 

Chloride,              6-60  0.47 

Carbonic  Acid,        .....  15'55  3"59 

100-00      100-00 


208  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

The  composition  of  these  two  will  show  what  they  require, 
and  if  their  requirements  be  not  allowed,  they  will  fail  to 
grow. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  wants  as  to  mineral 
matter  of  the  cotton  wool,  or  fibre,  are  chiefly  potash  and 
lime.  Potash  is  the  chief  desideratum  in  a  soil  to  produce  the 
fibre.  If  the  soil  be  deficient  in  this,  then  potash  should  be 
the  chief  constituent  in  the  manure  ;  this  is  a  self-evident  pro- 
position. Next  to  this  in  quantity,  we  have  lime ;  if  the  soil 
on  which  cotton  is  planted  contains  not  this  in  sufficient  quan- 
tities, then  the  manure  should  supply  the  deficiency.  This  is 
also  a  truism  ;  because  we  know  that  neither  potash  nor  lime 
is  furnished  to  crops,  except  through  the  agency  of  the  soil, 
or  manures.  Soda  is  also  a  component  of  the  cotton  fibre  to 
a  large  extent ;  but  we  need  not  make  this  a  constituent  of  a 
manure  for  this  crop,  because  from  the  locality  where  it  is 
grown,  (near  to  the  ocean  shore,)  a  large  quantity  of  soda,  in 
the  form  of  common  salt,  is  supplied  to  all  of  the  soils  of  these 
Sea  Islands,  in  the  spray  from  the  ocean.  Here  then  is  a 
source  of  supply.  The  same  is  true  of  chlorine,  which  is  here 
always  associated  with  soda.  Phosphoric  and  sulphuric  acids 
likewise  exist  in  the  fibre.  All  of  these  are  necessary  to  the 
full  development  of  the  cotton  fibre ;  and  without  these  it 
cannot  exist.  Not  the  least  fibre  could  be  produced  unless  on 
a  soil  containing  not  one,  or  several,  but  all  of  these  constitu- 
ents. So  much  for  the  cotton  fibre  as  to  its  wanting  of  mineral 
constituents ;  furthermore,  it  requires  a  mechanical  basis  for 
its  growth ;  there  are  seeds  from  which  the  fibre  springs ; 
without  a  healthy  seed  of  strong  vital  power,  the  fibre  will  be 
small  in  quantity  and  of  inferior  quality.  We  now,  there- 
fore, turn  our  attention  to  it,  and  seek  its  wants  from  its 
analysis. 

The  analysis  of  the  seed  shows  it  to  be  much  richer  ia 


ANALYSIS   OF    COTTON   AND    ITS   SOIL.  209 

mineral  matter  than  fibre ;  the  latter  containing  only  1.25  per 
cent,  of  ash,  whilst  the  former  contains  4'03  per  cent.  In  the 
seed  the  chief  mineral  constituent  is  phosphoric  acid;  more 
than  one-third  of  all  the  mineral  composition  of  th*  seed  being 
composed  of  this  ;  we  have  next  in  quantity  potash,  also  com- 
posing more  than  one-third  of  the  whole  amount  of  mineral 
matter ;  next  in  quantity  we  have  magnesia,  then  lime,  then 
sulphuric  acid ;  and  as  neither  of  these  substances  can  be  fur- 
nished by  the  air,  if  the  soil  be  deficient  in  them,  they  must 
be  supplied  by  manures.  They  are  essential  to  the  growth 
of  the  plant,  and  if  not  present  in  the  soil  in  proper  quantity, 
and  suitable  form  for  assimilation,  the  plant,  without  manure, 
will  languish  and  die. 

We  thus  are  told  by  the  fibre  and  seed,  in  plainest  language, 
what  they  need  for  their  full  development ;  the  cotton  plant 
seeks  this  kind  of  food  from  the  soil.  Can  the  soil  respond  to 
its  wants  ?  Is  it  capable  of  furnishing  all  of  the  constituents 
shown  in  the  above  analysis  in  proper  quantity,  and  in  proper 
form,  to  supply  what  the  plant  needs  ?  If  the  soil  can  do 
this,  then  no  mineral  manure  is  necessary.  We  will  submit 
the  soil  to  the  same  scrutiny  as  that  to  which  the  fibre  and 
seed  have  been  subjected.  We  will  add  to  this,  information 
derived  from  practical  experience  in  manuring  the  soil — a 
thing  never  to  be  despised,  and  we  will  see  in  these  two 
modes,  each  confirming  and  strengthening  the  testimony  of 
the  other,  what  should  be  the  composition  of  the  manure  best 
adapted  to  the  crop,  and  at  the  same  time  the  wants  or  the 
deficiencies  of  the  soil  upon  which  it  grows. 

The  soil  upon  which  the  above-examined  cotton  was  raised, 
is  composed,  as  to  its  bulk,  of  nine-tenths  of  fine  alluvial 
sand,  and  of  one-tenth  of  a  cement  consisting  of  sand, 
peroxide  of  iron,  clay,  lime,  magnesia,  and  humus.  It  is  not 
alone  the  proportionally  very  small  quantity  of  cement  to 


210 

that  of  sand  in  which  this  soil  differs  from  ordinary  produc- 
tive soils,  known  as  clayey  loams,  and  which  renders  it  a  very 
light  one,  of  little  tenacity,  or  of  retaining  powers  for  water, 
and  nourishment  in  general,  but  this  condition  is  also  due  to 
the  nature  of  the  cement  itself,  winch  does  not  show  a  proper 
quantitative  proportion  of  its  constituents.  These  constituents 
ought  to  be  united  to  each  other  in  such  a  proportion,  that 
none  of  them  can  exercise  a  predominent  influence.  Sand, 
lime  and  magnesia,  on  one  side,  have  to  temper  the  tenacity 
and  binding  of  the  clay,  iron,  and  humus,  and  by  these  means 
permit  the  free  influence  of  the  air  upon  the  soil,  and  the 
rain  water  to  penetrate  it  intimately  without  resting  upon  it. 
Clay,  iron,  and  humus,  on  the  other  side,  have  to  exercise 
their  binding  and  water-reserving  powers,  but  only  to  such 
an  extent  as  will  retain  the  solution  of  nourishing  substances 
without  doing  injury  to  the  porosity  of  the  soil  or  its  commu- 
nication with  atmospheric  ingredients. 

An  examination  of  the  cement  of  the  soil  in  question,  shows 
no  such  quantitative  proportion  of  its  constituents.  It  is 
almost  entirely  composed  of  sand,  and  peroxide  of  iron,  next 
to  those  of  clay,  then  of  magnesia  and  humus,  and  only  of 
such  small  quantities  of  lime  as  is  quite  common  in  soils.  It  is 
most  probably  to  this  fact  that  the  larger  per  centage  of  mag- 
nesia must  be  attributed,  which  we  meet  in  the  composition 
of  the  ash  of  the  cotton  fibre,  and  especially  in  that  of  the 
seeds  raised  upon  this  soil.  The  want  of  lime  induced  the 
cotton  plants  to  appropriate  more  abundantly  magnesia,  a 
substance  which,  in  its  chemical  character  and  properties, 
stands  nearest  to  lime,  and  which,  therefore,  is  capable  of  sub- 
stituting it  to  some  extent.  It  is,  however,  beyond  doubt 
that  a  substitution  of  lime  by  magnesia,  induced  by  circum- 
stances of  necessity  as  they  may  have  occurred  here,  will 
rather  act  injuriously  on  the  quality  of  the  fibre  than  improve 


ANALYSIS  OP   COTTON  AND   ITS  SOIL.  211 

it,  and  that,  therefore,  the  planter's  principal  endeavor  must 
be  directed  to  the  formation  of  a  more  calcareous  cement,  as 
well  as  it  regards  the  mechanical  texture  of  the  soil  as  its  di- 
rectly nourishing  properties.  The  improvement  in  the  me- 
chanical texture  of  this  soil  will  best  be  effected  by  the  appli- 
cation of  a  clayey  marl,  a  substance  composed  of  clay  and 
lime,  of  which  the  former  will  increase  the  slight  tenacity  and 
water-reserving  powers  of  the  soil,  whilst  the  latter  will  supply 
the  present  deficiency  of  lime. 

If  clayey  marl  cannot  be  procured,  it  may  be  best  substi- 
tuted by  any  kind  of  mud,  the  texture  of  which  is  stiffer  than 
that  of  the  soil,  mixed  with  common  oyster  shell  lime,  which 
should  be  applied  to  this  soil  on  the  surface,  and  suffered  to 
remain  there  as  long  as  possible.  This  will  act  on  the  soil  in 
the  double  capacity  of  improving  its  texture,  and  affording 
lime  as  a  nutriment. 

As  to  the  directly  nourishing  properties  of  the  soil,  the 
analysis  shows  one  acre,  one  foot  deep,  weighing  3,000  tons, 
to  contain — of  phosphoric  acid,  less  than  15  Ibs. ;  sulphuric 
acid,  less  than  is  contained  in  one  bushel  of  plaster  of  Paris  ; 
chlorine,  more  than  is  contained  in  four  bushels  of  common 
salt ;  potash,  less  than  20  Ibs.,  a  quantity  so  small  that  it 
could  not  accurately  be  ascertained;  soda,  more  than  four 
bushels  of  common  salt  contained. 

We  here,  therefore,  meet  with — 

A  deficiency  of  phosphoric  acid  ; 

A  deficiency  of  sulphuric  acid ; 

A  deficiency  of  potash  ; 
and  on  the  other  side  with — 

An  abundance  of  chlorine  ; 

An  abundance  of  soda. 

As  to  soda,  it  stands  nearest  in  its  chemical  character  to 
potash,  and  though  it  is  itself  not  nourishment  for  plants,  to 


212  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

any  great  extent,  as  the  quantity  of  it  decreases  in  plants  in 
proportion  to  their  cultivation,  it  nevertheless  acts  as  a 
substitute  for  potash,  in  the  same  manner  as  magnesia  for 
lime.  The  composition  of  the  cotton  staple,  as  given  above, 
shows  the  presence  of  soda  in  its  ash  in  no  small  quantity. 
This  circumstance  seems  to  express,  in  accordance  with  the 
analysis  of  the  soil,  that  by  the  scarcity  of  potash  the  plants 
were  forced  to  assimilate  soda.  In  this  condition  of  things, 
the  cotton  plant  could  not  be  produced  in  its  most  perfect 
form. 

If  we  now  consider  attentively — first,  the  requirements  of  the 
cotton  seed  and  fibre ;  and  secondly,  the  capacity  of  the  soil 
to  meet  these  requirements,  we  shall  find  the  chief  deficiencies 
to  be  these — first,  a  deficiency  of  lime  in  the  soil ;  secondly, 
a  deficiency  of  potash  ;  thirdly,  a  deficiency  of  phosphoric  and 
sulphuric  acid. 

This  is  taught  us  by  the  analysis.  How  is  this  borne  out 
by  practical  experience  in  the  manures  of  these  soils  ?  It  is 
confirmed  to  the  very  letter.  The  best  manure  for  the  cot- 
ton plant  is  cow-pen  manure  and  cotton  seed — both  rich  in 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash.  The  success  of  these  manures 
proves  a  deficiency  in  the  soil  of  their  chief  constituents, 
which  are  phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  otherwise  they  would 
not  act  as  manures.  The  first  of  these  sources,  the  cotton 
seed,  cannot  be  obtained  in  sufficient  quantities  to  manure  all 
the  land  in  cultivation,  nor  can  cow-pen  manure  be  applied 
to  all  of  the  soil  in  cultivation,  because  of  the  few  cattle  raised 
on  the  sea  island  cotton  lands.  We  then  must  have  recourse 
to  a  supply  of  manure,  not  directly  the  product  of  the  soil 
itself. 

This  manure  should  especially  contain  phosphoric  acid  and 
potash,  because  they  are  the  substances  most  needed  by  the 
cotton  plant,  and  at  the  same  time  those  least  abundant  in 


ANALYSIS  OP   COTTON   AND   ITS  SOIL.  213 

the  soil.  Practice  has  taught  us,  moreover,  that  in  the  great 
majority  of  soils,  some  nitrogenous  manure  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  give  a  quick  early  growth  to  the  young  plant.  We 
must  then  apply  a  manure  composed  of  nitrogenous  com- 
pounds, phosphoric  acid  and  potash ;  the  constituents  neces- 
sary can  be  very  easily  and  cheaply  supplied. 

Peruvian  guano  is  the  cheapest  source  of  supply  of  nitro- 
genous compounds. 

Bone  dust  for  phosphoric  acid. 

The  various  refuse  of  manufactories  for  potash. 

Sulphuric  acid  is  best  supplied  by  plaster  of  Paris,  which 
need  not  be  used  when  bones  are  dissolved  in  sulphuric  acid, 
and  used  as  a  constituent  of  the  manure. 

Whatever  may  be  the  productive  capacity  of  cotton  soil  in 
its  virgin  state,  it  must  deteriorate  by  long  continued  culti- 
vation; this  must  be  met  by  having  the  composition  of  cotton. 
The  following  table  shows  the  substances  and  the  quantity 
used  in  a  crop  respectively  by  the  fibre  and  seed. 


COTTON, 

Production  Per  Acre. 

Fibre,        ......       200  pounds. 

Seeds, GOO       " 

General  Composition  (in  pounds)  of 

200  Ibs.  Fibre.     600  Ibs.  Seeds 
Water,  .         .         .         .         . 
Organic  Matter, 
Ash  or  Mineral  Matter, 

200-00  600-00 


214                  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Composition  of  the  above  Ash,  as  taken  away  by  a  crop  from 
one  acre  (in  pounds). 

BY  THE  FIBRE.  BY  THE  SEEDS.          IN  ALL. 

Potash,      .         .         .         0-881  8'403  9-284 

Soda,         .         .         .         0-128  0'266  0'394 

Lime,        .         .         .         0-418  1-451  1'869 

Magnesia,          .         .         0'237  3'320  3-557 

Peroxide  of  Iron,       .         0'051  0'132  0-183 

Silicic  Acid,      .         .         0*007  trace  0'007 

Phosphoric  Acid,       .         0-136  8'669  8'805 

Sulphuric  Acid,         .         0'088  0'958  T046 

Chloride,  .         .         .         0'166  0-113  0279 

Carbonic  Acid,                    0'3S8  0'868  T256 


2-500  24-180  26-680 

This  table  shows,  that  in  order  to  maintain  a  soil  in  its 
original  excellence,  manures  must  be  added  having  the  com- 
position of  the  cotton  cultivated  ;  and  they  must,  for  practical 
utility,  not  only  contain  all  the  constituents  of  the  cotton,  but 
have  an  excess  to  provide  against  loss  from  all  sources  which 
tend  to  the  depreciation  of  manures. 

The  manure  compounded  by  you  for  the  cotton  plant,  is 
mainly  composed  of  these  ingredients,  and  must  of  consequence 
be  peculiarly  adapted  to  its  growth,  and  the  permanent  im- 
provement of  the  land  upon  which  it  is  grown,  since  more  of 
it  is  applied  than  is  consumed  by  the  plant. 

I  have  been  very  cautious,  for  various  reasons,  to  recom- 
mend no  artificial  manure  unless  guaranteed  as  to  its  composi- 
tion, as  the  objection  to  many  artificial  manures  is  that  they  are 
not  made  of  uniform  character.  This  objection  is  met,  in  that 
which  you  sell,  by  the  guarantee  which  you  give ;  a  thing 
done  according  to  suggestions  given  in  the  Second  Annual 


ANALYSIS   OF    COTTON   AND   ITS   SOIL.  215 

Report  of  the  State  Chemist,  to  the  House  of  Delegates,  seve- 
ral years  since.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  here  to  endorse 
either  your  pecuniary  responsibility  or  your  personal  character. 
The  former  can  be  easily  proven  by  any  one  who  may  become 
interested ;  the  latter  has  been  endorsed  in  various  ways,  at 
different  times,  by  your  party,  by  the  people,  and  by  our  Na- 
tional Executive.  First,  by  your  party,  in  nominating  you 
for  the  highly  responsible  and  lucrative  office  of  High  Sheriff 
of  Baltimore  City  and  County — a  nomination  confirmed  by  a 
large  majority  of  your  fellow-citizens ;  then,  by  your  appoint- 
ment as  a  delegate  to  several  of  our  National  Presidential 
Conventions ;  and,  subsequently,  by  your  appointment  to  the 
second  gift  of  the  President,  in  our  State — that  of  Naval  Officer 
of  the  Port  of  Baltimore.  In  each  of  these  instances  you  had 
for  competitors  some  of  the  best  men  in  our  State.  The  best 
future  recommendation  for  your  manure  will  be  its  results,  and 
to  them  we  can  look  forward  with  implicit  confidence. 

There  doubtless  is  a  marked  difference  in  many  of  the  cot- 
ton lands  of  the  South,  which  will  have  to  be  made  known  by 
a  chemical  analysis.  Some  may  be  deficient  in  one  substance, 
and  some  in  another.  This  variation,  of  course,  is  to  be  met 
by  a  corresponding  change  in  the  constituents  of  the  manure ; 
and  its  failure  must  be  attributed  to  the  peculiar  nature  of 
the  soil,  not  the  manure,  when  constituted  as  above  recom- 
mended. 

Wishing  you  success  in  your  enterprise,  and  those  who  pat- 
ronize it  most  abundant  crops,  we  are  very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  HIGGINS. 
CHARLES  BICKELL. 
JOHN  KETTLEWELL,  Esq.,  Baltimore. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

COTTON  CONSUMPTION  AND  COTTON  TRADE  — COTTON 
TEADE  FROM  1825  TO  1850.  BY  PROFESSOR  McKAY,  LATE 
OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA. 


SECTION   I. — COTTON   BAGGING. 

WILL  not  the  planters  of  Georgia  encourage  the  use  of  bag- 
ging made  from  cotton  ?  Listen  to  these  facts  and  decide  for 
yourselves. 

The  cotton  crop  of  1839,  by  the  published  statistics,  was 
from  Georgia,  163,000,000  Ibs.  Averaging  the  bag  at  400  Ibs., 
this  made  the  crop  407,500  bags.  This  required,  at  five  yards 
per  bag,  2,036,500  yards,  which  at  twenty  cents  per  yard,  is 
$407,500.  If  the  bagging  made  from  cotton  be  used  in  place 
of  hemp,  every  dollar  of  this  money  is  retained  in  the  State  ; 
whereas,  with  the  use  of  hemp,  every  dollar  is  carried  out  of 
it,  except  the  small  items  of  transportations  and  commissions. 
For  safety's  sake,  we  may  say  that  $300,000  of  this  amount  is 
taken  away  from  the  State  entirely. 

Again,  to  manufacture  this  bagging  each  yard  requires  two 
Ibs.  of  raw  cotton,  which  makes  an  amount  of  4,077,000  Ibs. 
Now  if  we  use  hemp  bagging,  we  add  just  this  amount  an- 
nually to  the  supply  from  the  crop  for  manufacturing  purpose, 
and  it  tends  to  diminish  the  demand  just  so  much.  Suppose 
we  convert  it  into  bagging,  we  furnish  a  new  demand  for 

[2161 


COTTON   BEDS.  217 

that  amount.  In  other  words,  we  withdraw  from  market  that 
amount,  diminish  that  portion  of  the  supply — reduce  the  crop 
so  much,  which  at  400  Ibs.  per  bag  is  10.192  bags,  and  there- 
by increase  so  much  the  demand  for  our  cotton.  In  addition 
to  the  large  amount  of  cotton  thus  consumed,  there  is  also  a 
considerable  quantity  converted  into  rope  and  twine.  Will 
not  the  farmers  study  these  facts,  and  take  the  hint?  Read 
this  article  again,  and  see  how  you  like  my  suggestions.  May 
not  we  reduce  the  price  of  bagging  to  sixteen  or  seventeen 
cents,  if  we  encourage  entirely  our  own  manufactures  in  mak- 
ing it,  and  save  commissions,  profits  and  freights  now  made 
by  commission  merchants,  and  ships  and  steamboat  owners. 

PUTNAM.    [Southern  Recorder.'} 


SECTION   II. — COTTON   BEDS — A   GOOD   SUGGESTION. 

We  find  the  following  in  the  Albany  Cultivator.  Cotton 
beds  are  becoming  very  much  in  use  on  steamboats  on  the 
Western  rivers,  and  they  are  considered  superior  to  any  kind 
but  hair : 

COTTON  BEDS. — We  have  received  from  J.  A.  Guernsey, 
Esq.,  a  copy  of  the  Southron,  published  at  Jackson,  Miss.,  con- 
taining some  remarks  on  the  advantages  of  cotton  for  bedding. 
These  advantages  may  be  summed  up  as  follows.  It  is  claim- 
ed that  "  It  is  the  cheapest,  most  comfortable,  and  most  healthy 
material  for  bedding,  that  is  known  in  the  civilized  world. 
In  addition  to  these,  may  be  named  superior  cleanliness  ;  ver- 
min will  not  abide  it :  there  is  no  grease  in  it,  as  in  hair  or 
wool ;  it  does  not  get  stale  and  acquire  an  unpleasant  odor,  as 
feathers  do ;  moths  do  not  infest  it,  as  they  do  wool ;  it  does 
not  pack  and  become  hard,  as  moss  does ;  nor  does  it  become 
dry,  brittle  and  dusty,  as  do  straw  or  husk ;  and  in  many 
10 


218  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

cases  medicinal.''1  It  is  said  not  to  cause  that  lassitude  and 
inertia  which  is  produced  by  sleeping  on  feathers.  People 
not  acquainted  with  it,  have  supposed  they  have  been  sleep- 
ing on  the  best  feathers,  when  in  fact  their  beds  were  made 
of  cotton.  The  relative  cost  of  cotton  compared  with  feathers, 
hair,  &c.,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  statement : 

Cost  of  a  Hair  Mattress. — They  are  generally  sold  by  the 
pound,  and  cost  from  fifty  to  seventy -five  cents  per  pound. 
Thirty  or  forty  pounds  will  cost  $15  or  $20. 

Wool. — Thirty  pounds  of  wool  at  thirty  cents  per  pound,  $9  ; 
twelve  yards  of  ticking,  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per 
yard,  $1  50  ;  labor,  thread,  &c.,  $2  75.  Total,  $13  25. 

Feathers. — Forty  pounds  feathers,  at  thirty  cents  per  pound, 
$12  ;  fifteen  yards  of  ticking,  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per 
yard,  $1  87£;  labor,  &c.,  $2  75.  Total,  $16  62J. 

Cotton. — Thirty  pounds  cotton,  at  eight  cents  per  pound, 
$3  40 ;  twelve  yards  ticking,  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per 
yard,  $1  50 ;  labor,  thread,  &c.,  $2  75.  Total,  $7  65. 

It  is  recommended  to  run  the  cotton  through  a  "picker," 
where  one  can  conveniently  be  obtained,  before  using.  This 
gives  it  additional  cleanliness  and  buoyancy. 

The  substitution  of  cotton  for  bedding  throughout  the  United 
States  would  be  an  immense  saving,  beside  opening  a  new 
avenue  for  that  article,  to  an  extent,  according  to  the  estima- 
tion of  this  writer,  equal  "to  more  than  two  of  the  largest 
crops  of  cotton  ever  produced  in  the  United  States." 

SECTION   III. — A   NEW   USE  FOR   COTTON. 

A  late  number  of  the  New  York  Day-Book  contains  the  fol- 
lowing notice  of  a  novel  application  of  our  great  southern 
staple : 

"  Invention,  which  goes  far  to  make  useful  almost  every  pro- 


DOMESTIC   BAGGING  AND   BLANKETS.  219 

d action  of  nature,  has  found  a  new  use  for  cotton,  in  which, 
without  doubt,  a  very  large  amount  will  be  employed.  We 
allude  to  the  mattresses  now  coming  so  favorably  and  extensive- 
ly into  use,  in  preference  to  any  article  heretofore  tried.  The 
writer  of  this  has  used  one  for  six  months  past,  and  has  found 
it  to  possess  every  requisite  and  desirable  quality  of  a  mattress, 
without  the  objections  so  frequently  urged  against  moss,  curled 
hair  or  husks — as  the  husks  moulding  from  damps,  bad  smells 
from  the  curled  hair  in  summer,  and  the  lumpy  matting  of  the 
moss.  The  cotton  felting,  prepared  by  a  patented  process,  has 
none  of  these  annoyances,  is  always  elastic,  and  will,  with 
ordinary  care,  last  a  lifetime.  Our  friends,  '  way  down  on  the 
old  plantations/  will  please  make  a  note  of  this,  and  consider 
that  the  invention  is  a  feather  in  their  caps — or  rather  money 
in  their  purses — as  the  demand  for  the  raw  material  at  home 
will,  doubtless,  materially  increase  the  price.  We  feel  sure 
that  if  the  real  qualities  of  this  mattress  are  ever  made  known 
to  the  public  generally,  five  hundred  thousand  bales  a  year 
would  not  satisfy  the  demand  for  its  manufacture.  The  article 
having  been  thoroughly  tried  on  the  principal  steamships,  and 
approved  by  their  owners,  as  well  as  by  physicians  who  have 
tried,  and  strongly  recommend  them,  we  doubt  not  the 
patentee  will  make  a  fortune  on  them.  The  agents  for  this 
city,  and  the  Union  generally,  are  Messrs.  Doremus  &  Nixon, 
21  Park  place  and  19  Murray  street." 


SECTION   IV. — DOMESTIC    BAGGING  AND    BLANKETS. 

MR.  JONES  : — Being  a  reader  of  the  Southern  Cultivator,  I 
have  noticed  several  articles  on  the  subject  of  the  manufacture 
of  cotton  bagging,  from  cotton ;  and  having  some  practical 
knowledge  on  the  subject,  I  avail  myself  of  the  invitation 


220  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

given  in  your  paper,  to  give  the  result  to  the  public  through 
its  columns,  with  the  hope  of  contributing  something  to  render 
the  planters  more  independent,  and  add  to  their  comfort. 

During  the  late  war  with  England,  when  bagging  was  scarce 
and  very  high — one  dollar  per  yard — I  purchased  a  sley,  made 
for  the  express  purpose  of  weaving  bagging,  forty-two  inches 
wide,  sixteen  "bier"  At  that  time  I  grew  flax,  and  made 
several  pieces  of  bagging,  as  good  as  the  imported  article, 
which  I  sold  for  one  dollar  a  yard.  Twelve  or  thirteen  years 
ago,  I  put  up  a  screw  for  packing  cotton  ;  since  which  I  have 
made  all  my  bagging,  rope,  and  twine  of  cotton,  which  was 
spun  upon  a  common  wheel,  and  wove  in  a  common  loom  in 
the  old  sley.  The  warp  should  be  sufficiently  stout  to  work 
two  threads  in  a  reed,  and  the  filling  coarse  enough  to  keep 
the  cloth  the  full  width  of  the  sley.  Every  girl  that  can  draw 
a  thread,  can  spin  the  filling ;  and  if  the  warp  and  filling  are 
sufficiently  stout,  the  bagging  will  be  of  as  good  quality  as 
may  be  desired.  I  make  mine  to  weigh  from  1|-  to  If  pounds 
per  yard,  and  in  four  and  a-half  yards  I  pack  330  to  350 
pounds  of  cotton.  I  always  save  the  inferior  cotton  to  make 
the  bagging  and  rope,  and  my  bales  look  as  neat  as  any  bales 
I  see  in  the  market,  and  generally,  I  believe,  command  as 
good  a  price  as  any,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  staple. 
None  need  fear  of  success  if  the  thread  be  sufficiently  stout, 
and  the  sley  be  of  the  right  kind.  I  therefore  think  that 
almost  all  planters,  particularly  small  planters,  may  supply 
themselves  with  an  excellent  article  of  bagging  and  twine  of 
their  own  make. 

There  is  another  article  I  find  greatly  to  my  advantage  to 
manufacture  at  home,  which  is  wove  in  the  same  sley  and 
loom, — I  mean  blankets  for  servants.  If  made  heavy,  and 
well  wove,  they  will  be  as  warm  as,  and  much  more  durable 
than  the  imported  article.  They  may  be  made  of  any  con- 


COTTON  KIGGING  FOR  SHIPS.  221 

veuient  size ;  and  if  the  filling  be  slack  twisted  and  neatly 
carded  after  being  wove,  the  blanket  will  do  no  discredit  to 
the  bed  of  a  gentleman  and  his  lady.  My  family  have  made 
their  blankets  for  many  years,  and  those  Avives  and  daughters 
who  feel  a  desire  to  excel  in  the  manufacture  of  their  carpeting, 
will  find  such  a  sley  a  great  auxiliary  :  and  so  far  as  the  home 
manufacture  of  these  articles  can  contribute  to  our  indepen- 
dence and  comfort,  we  can  accomplish  it ;  and  I  hope  that  our 
wives  and  daughters  have  both  industry  and  patriotism  suf- 
ficient to  make  the  effort,  provided  they  are  seconded  in  their 
exertions  by  their  husbands  and  fathers. 

Yours,  respectfully, 
Gwinnett  Co.,  October,  1843.  ANSELM  ANTHONY. 


SECTION  V. — COTTON  RIGGING  FOR  SHIPS. 

THIS  article,  we  are  glad  to  see,  continues  to  grow  in  public 
favor.  The  Delta  states  that  at  one  time,  during  the  month 
of  April,  there  were  the  following  ships — all  new,  and  of  large 
tonnage — in  the  port  of  New  Orleans,  with  a  part  or  the  whole 
of  their  running  rigging  and  hawsers  of  cotton  cordage  : — 
North  America,  Escort,  Shakespeare,  of  Boston ;  Knicker- 
bocker, of  New  York ;  Erie,  Liberty,  St.  Patrick,  of  Thomas- 
ton,  Me. ;  Walter  Scott,  Civilian,  Saniscott,  Robert  Lane,  Sea 
Breeze,  Sewell,  of  Boston.  The  officers  of  all  these  ships  were 
unanimous  in  their  testimony  in  favor  of  cotton  cordage  for 
running  rigging,  and  many  of  them  thought  it  would  be  adopted 
for  standing  also. 

The  Delta  states  that  Donald  McKay,  the  celebrated  ship- 
builder at  Boston,  the  owner  and  builder  of  the  famous  clipper 
ship  Republic,  is  adopting  cotton  cordage  for  all  his  new  ships. 
The  large  new  clipper  ship  Caleb  Gushing,  recently  built  at 


222 

Newburyport,  Mass.,  has  all  her  rigging,  both  standing  and 
running,  of  cotton  cordage.  Capt.  J.  P.  Smith,  of  the  ship 
Walter  Scott,  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  it  will  outlast  any 
rope,  whether  hemp  or  Manilla.  He  is  also  quite  sure  the 
cotton  rope  is  the  strongest  of  the  three  ropes,  as  by  bending 
cotton  and  Manilla  ropes  of  equal  sizes  together,  and  heaving 
on  it,  at  the  capstan,  the  Manilla  will  always  part  first.  Capt. 
Brown,  of  the  ship  Escort,  says  that  he  has  used  cotton  cordage 
twenty-eight  months  on  the  ship  Medora,  and  found  it  to  wear 
far  better,  on  all  accounts,  than  any  other  rigging  he  ever 
used.  In  wet  weather,  likewise,  it  is  more  pliable,  and  in 
frosty  weather  it  is  not  so  stiff  as  Manilla.  After  it  is  used  a 
few  months  it  becomes  smooth  and  glossy,  and  works  through 
the  blocks  much  better  than  any  other  rope.  After  the  Escort 
was  launched  last  autumn,  at  Bristol,  Me.,  she  was  made  fast 
with  two  Manilla  lines,  and  three  and  a-half  inch  line  of  cotton 
cordage  seventy  fathoms  in  length,  and  a  very  heavy  blow 
came  up  and  the  two  Manilla  lines  parted,  and  the  ship  rode 
for  more  than  twenty-four  hours,  and  during  the  gale,  with 
this  line,  run  out  its  whole  length,  alone  to  hold  her ;  and  the 
strain  was  so  great  that  it  wore  and  imbedded  its  full  size  into 
the  white  oak  crosstrees,  without  breaking  a  thread  in  it.  It 
is  Captain  Brown's  opinion,  that  no  Manilla  or  hemp  rope 
of  the  same  size  could  have  held  the  ship  under  like  circum- 
stances. A  number  of  shipmasters'  statements,  all  to  the  same 
purport  as  the  above,  are  published  in  the  Delta,  all  going  to 
show  that  cotton  cordages,  like  cotton  duck,  is  destined  to  come 
into  general  use. 

SECTION   VI. — PAPER   FROM   THE   BARK   OF    COTTON. 

We  called  attention    some   months    ago   to    specimens  of 
hemp  made  from  the  bark  stripped  from  cotton  stalks  and  left 


PAPER   FROM   THE   BARK   OF    COTTON.  223 

at  our  office  for  public  inspection.  "We  now  learn  from  the 
New  York  Day  Book,  that  specimens  of  bark  have  been  ex- 
hibited to  paper  manufacturers  at  the  North,  which  is  found  to 
be  of  a  fibrous  character,  and  is  considered  to  be  well  adapted 
for  the  manufacture  of  good  paper. 

The  best  period  for  preparing  this  cotton  hemp  will  be  as 
soon  as  practicable  after  the  picking  of  cotton  has  been  finished. 
The  plants  should  then  be  pulled  up  and  dew-rotted  like  hemp 
or  flax,  and  afterwards  broken  up  and  the  bark  separated  from 
the  wood  of  the  stalk.  The  specimens  of  clean  bark  exhibited 
to  experienced  paper  makers  was  considered  equal  to  good 
rags  worth  six  cents  per  pound,  or  about  $120  per  ton,  and 
was  pronounced  the  best  substitute  for  rags  of  any  raw  vege- 
table material  known  to  the  trade. 

The  importance  of  an  abundant  and  cheap  material  as  a 
substitute  for  rags,  from  which  good,  cheap  paper  can  be  made, 
may  be  judged  of  from  the  fact  that  the  United  States  con- 
sume as  much  as  France  and  England  combined.  There  is 
no  element  in  the  progress  of  civilization  more  important  than 
cheap  paper. 

For  some  years,  the  consumption  of  paper  has  been  gaining 
on  the  supply  of  rags,  and  fears  have  been  felt  that  the  ad- 
vance in  their  cost  would  ultimately  be  seriously  felt  in  every 
department  of  literature,  so  that  should  the  discovery  of 
cotton  hemp  realize  the  anticipations  of  paper  makers,  it  will 
not  only  prove  valuable  to  the  South,  but  also  to  the  civilized 
world. 

The  magnitude  of  the  paper  business  may  be  conceived 
when  we  take  into  consideration  that  there  are  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  paper  mills  in  the  United  States,  employing 
three  thousand  engines,  and  which  produce  annually,  at  ten 
cents  per  pound,  $27,000,000  worth  of  paper.  To  manufac- 
ture this  amount  of  paper  requires  405,000,000  pounds  of  rags, 


224  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

1^  Ibs.  of  rags  being  necessary  to  produce  one  pound  of  paper. 
The  value  of  the  rags,  at  the  average  of  four  cents  per  pound, 
amounts  to  $16,000..000,  to  which,  if  the  cost  of  making  them 
into  paper,  including  If  cents  to  each  pound  of  paper  in  labor, 
with  wastage,  chemicals,  &c.,  be  added,  would  swell  the  cost 
to  $23,625,000  to  produce  $^7,000,000  of  paper — leaving  nett 
profits  on  the  total  manufacture  of  $3,375,000.  For  the  year 
ending  the  30th  June,  1855,  we  imported  40,013,516  pounds 
of  foreign  rags  from  twenty-six  different  countries.  Of  this 
amount,  Tuscany,  in  Italy,  supplied  14,000,000  pounds,  Two 
Sicilies  6,000,000,  Austria  4,000,000,  Egypt  2,466,928,  Turkey 
2,466,928,  England  2,591,178.  The  total  value  of  the  40,- 
013,516  pounds  imported  was  $1,225,150. 

It  is  possible  that  the  cotton  fields  of  the  south  may  furnish, 
an  almost  inexhaustible  supply  of  hemp,  so  as  hereafter  we 
will  reach  the  great  desideratum  in  modern  civilization,  an 
abundant  and  cheap  supply  of  paper. — Savannah  Republican. 


SECTION   VII. — COTTON-SEED    OIL. 

The  Wakulla  Times  of  a  late  date,  says  : — "  '  The  proprie- 
tors of  one  of  our  linseed  oil  mills  have  commenced  the  manu- 
facture of  oil  from  cotton  seed,  and  about  400  bags  of  the  seed 
arrived  here  this  week  from  Memphis,  to  be  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  oil  is  used  for  burning.  How  far  the  parties  will 
succeed  in  their  enterprise  remains  to  be  demonstrated.  We 
believe  the  manufacture  of  oil  from  cotton  seed  has  been  car- 
ried on  in  the  South  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  for  several 
years  ;  at  Natchez,  we  believe,  one  of  these  mills  has  been 
in  operation  for  some  ten  years,  but,  so  far,  the  oil  has  not 
come  into  general  use.  The  difficulty  seems  to  be  in  clarify- 
ing, as  it  will  not  burn  in  a  crude  state.  Should  our  enter- 


COTTON  SEED   OIL.  225 

prising  citizens  succeed  in  preparing  the  oil  for  use,  it  will 
prove  a  most  important  article  of  commerce.' — Cincinnati 
Price  Current. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  now  more  cotton  seed  oil  used  for  table 
and  other  purposes  than  even  consumers  themselves  are  aware 
of,  to  say  nothing  of  the  soap,  which  is  of  a  superior  quality, 
made  from  the  refuse  of  the  oil  after  clarifying.  On  this  sub- 
ject, a  friend,  whose  statements  may  be  relied  on,  writes  us : 

"  '  I  notice  in  a  Western  paper  that  a  concern  in  Cincinnati 
has  commenced  the  manufacture  of  oil  from  cotton  seed.  I 
will  mention  a  few  facts  which  may  be  of  use  to  somebody. 
There  is  a  prejudice  against  cotton  seed  oil,  but  it  is  owing 
mainly  to  the  fact  that  the  seeds  have  been  extensively  used 
for  that  purpose  without  hulling — the  hull  imparting  to  the  oil 
a  bitter  taste  and  a  gummy  substance,  which  injured  it  for 
drying,  and  causes  a  smoke  when  burning.  Notwithstanding 
this,  quantities  of  this  oil  have  been  mixed  with  linseed  and 
lard  oils,  and  the  buyers  have  been  none  the  wiser  for  it. 
Some  three  years  since,  a  friend  of  mine  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  oil  from  cotton  seed.  The  seeds  were  first 
perfectly  hulled  so  that  nothing  but  the  meat  of  the  seed  was 
used. 

"  *  After  the  oil  was  extracted,  it  went  through  a  clarifying 
process  (a  simple  one,  but  very  perfect),  leaving  it  as  clear 
and  as  pure  as  the  best  olive.  For  burning  it  has  no  superior, 
as  it  gives  a  clear,  brilliant  light,  without  smoke ;  and  for  the 
table  it  can  scarcely  be  surpassed,  for  it  has  deceived  and  is 
still  deceiving  many  good  judges  of  the  article.  Indeed,  my 
friend  assured  me  that  he  was  unable  to  fill  all  the  orders  for 
oil  put  up  for  the  table— but  he  added  :  "  We  dare  not  call  it 
cotton  seed  oil  lest  it  might  prejudice  the  sale."  ' 

"  We  of  the  cotton-growing  States  can  safely  feel  ourselves 
perfectly  independent  of  the  world  for  oil  for  all  purposes." 
10* 


226 


SECTION   VIII. — COTTON   SEED   AS   A   MANURE. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — The  great  enriching  properties  of  cotton 
seed  as  a  manure,  and  its  superior  power  of  imparting  an  early 
impetus  to  the  growth  of  plants,  have  been  visible  to  all  who 
have  ever  given  them  a  fair  trial.  They  need  not  be  confined 
as  a  manure  to  any  one  article  grown  by  the  planter,  but  ex- 
tended to  almost  every  species  of  vegetation — corn,  peas,  cot- 
ton, vegetables,  small  grain,  and  grapes — though  not  equally 
beneficial  to  all  alike.  From  an  experience  of  a  few  years, 
the  subscriber  would  advise  their  use  on  land  designed  for 
corn,  in  the  quantity  of  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  acre,  to 
be  hauled  out  after  the  land  is  well  fallowed,  a  few  days  be- 
fore planting  time,  and  deposited  in  piles  of  equal  quantity 
and  distance  for  convenience  and  facility  in  distributing  them. 
The  land  being  suitably  prepared  and  ready  for  planting,  the 
rows  laid  off  by  a  shovel-plough,  opening  broad  and  deep,  the 
seeds  are  then  scattered  from  one  end  of  the  row  to  the  other, 
with  the  corn  dropped  on  them  at  such  distance  in  the  drill  as 
the  quality  of  the  land  will  justify,  say  in  medium  or  average 
land  two  and  a-half  feet  apart,  covered  with  a  turning-plough, 
and  harrowed  off  with  an  iron-tooth  harrow.  If  the  corn  be 
planted  and  seed  sown  on  it,  the  stand  will  be  greatly  en- 
dangered from  the  lint  and  heating  quality  of  the  seed,  but 
by  planting  as  advised,  a  stand  will  be  secured.  If  a  greater 
quantity  of  seed  can  be  procured,  the  benefit  desired  will  be 
more  general  and  permanent  to  the  land  by  scattering  them 
broad-cast,  and  ploughing  them  in.  Many  contend  that  this 
manure  is  not  felt  longer  than  one  year,  but  such  persons, 
after  exposing  the  seeds  all  the  winter,  haul  them  in  small 
piles  and  suffer  them  to  remain  from  March  until  May,  when 
they  are  removed  to  the  corn  hill,  there  .deposited  on  the  sur- 


COTTON   SEED    AS   A    MANURE.  227 

face  around  the  stalk  to'  remain  uncovered  until  wind,  rain 
and  sun  dissipate  its  fertilizing  properties.  My  own  impres- 
sion is,  that  its  influence  is  felt  for  five  years,  independent  of 
an  increased  quantity  of  vegetable  matter  returned  to  enrich 
the  land.  If  the  season  proves  suitable,  by  this  plan  of  man- 
uring in  the  drill,  one  may  realize  a  hundred  per  cent,  in  the 
yield  of  corn ;  and  the  succeeding  year,  if  planted  in  cotton, 
in  reversing  the  beds,  this  very  manure  is  thrown  on  the  bed 
where  the  seeds  are  sown,  enabling  the  plant  to  reap  early 
benefit  at  a  period,  as  generally  acquiesced  in  by  planters, 
when  it  requires  more  support  than  at  any  other,  in  order  that 
its  early  growth  and  healthy  condition  may  enable  it  to  escape 
the  ravages  of  lice,  with  which  the  plant  is  never  attacked  until 
enfeebled  by  cold  or  some  other  injurious  cause.  We  are  urged 
by  many  to  manure  exclusively  for  cotton.  From  such  I 
think  differently.  The  past  year,  ten  acres  were  in  cotton, 
where  a  hundred  bushels  of  cotton  seed  were  given  to  the 
acre,  placed  in  the  water  furrow,  and  bedded  upon  them.  The 
result  was  an  increased  growth,  and  moderate  increase  in 
yield,  but  not  enough  to  justify  such  an  expenditure  of  this 
valuable  manure.  The  same  year  fifty  acres  were  planted  in 
cotton  that  had  been  grown  three  preceding  years  in  corn  and 
peas,  manured  each  year  with  cotton  seed,  as  advised,  but 
none  on  it  the  year  it  was  in  cotton.  The  corn  stalks  had 
been  cut  up,  and  with  the  pea  vines,  regularly  turned  under. 
The  land  in  both  cuts  was  well  cultivated,  and  seasons  alike. 
The  soil  of  the  ten  acres  was  good,  of  a  mulatto  color,  whilst 
that  of  the  fifty  acres  was  poor  and  hilly,  with  clay  near  the 
surface.  The  difference  in  the  yield  was  fifty  per  cent,  in 
favor  of  the  fifty  acre  cut.  This  year  I  have  ten  acres  planted 
in  cotton  with  a  hundred  bushels  of  seed  sown  broad-cast  and 
ploughed  in ;  also,  fifty  acres,  planted  in  cotton,  which  was  in 
corn  and  peas  the  past  year,  manured  with  a  hundred  bushels 


228  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

to  the  acre  in  the  drill,  but  none  this  year;  the  corn  stalks 
cut  up  in  several  pieces,  and  with  the  pea  vines  turned  under. 
Both  cuts  of  land  are  similar  in  quality,  and  have  been  culti- 
vated alike  with  like  seasons.  The  result  so  far  shews  that 
the  benefit  derived  from  last  year's  manuring  is  greatly  pre- 
ferable to  that  of  the  present  year.  The  stand  on  the  ten 
acres  is  very  imperfect  and  very  irregular  in  its  size,  and  has 
been  much  harrassed  by  lice.  The  fifty  acre  cut  is  a  good 
stand,  quite  regular  in  its  size,  has  been  free  from  lice,  and 
presents  altogether  a  thrifty  appearance,  and  bids  fair  to 
yield  fifty  per  cent,  per  acre  more  than  the  ten  acre  cut. 

From  these  remarks,  you  will  readily  perceive  that  I  pre- 
fer manuring  with  cotton  seed  for  corn,  instead  of  cotton ;  that 
we  are  better  rewarded  the  second  year  to  succeed  it  in  cot- 
ton, and  well  compensated  the  first  for  our  trouble.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  say  that  the  benefit  is  altogether  attributable  to 
the  cotton  seed,  but  to  the  change  in  the  crop,  together  with 
the  advantage  of  corn  stalks  and  pea  vines,  restoring  the 
original  susceptibility  in  the  land  to  grow  and  produce  good 
cotton.  If  those  who  disagree  with  me  will  give  results  from 
a  better  process  of  using  this  valuable  manure,  I  shall  be 
greatly  obliged. 

Prairie  Mount,  Miss.,  1848.  COWLES  M.  VAIDEN. 

SECTION   IX. — FEEDING   HOGS  WITH   COTTON   SEED. 

FOR  five  or  six  years  in  succession,  I  fed  my  hogs  with  raw 
cotton  seed.  My  plan  was  this  :  I  put  out  such  a  quantity 
that  each  hog  would  have  the  measure  that  a  shelled  ear  of 
corn  would  fill,  of  the  seed,  and  gave  at  the  same  time  an  ear 
of  corn  to  each  hog.  While  the  larger  hogs  were  eating  this, 
the  pigs  fed  more  fully  on  corn  in  a  pen  that  the  large  hogs 
could  not  enter.  I  am  not  aware  that  my  hogs,  in  any  in- 


COTTON  SEED.  229 

stance,  ever  sustained  any  injury  from  this  course.  They  ate 
them  freely,  and  from  some  comparative  experiments,  I  think 
they  kept  in  better  condition  than  others  that  had  the  same 
allowance  of  corn,  without  the  cotton  seed.  I  say,  I  think, 
for  the  experiment  was  not  very  carefully  made.  I  have  also 
fed  them  boiled,  and  again  I  think  without  injury.  My  con- 
clusion is,  that  with  corn,  hogs  may  safely  have  a  small  (equal) 
allowance  of  cotton  seed.  At  the  same  time  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced they  are  very  injurious  to  pigs  ;  but  managed  as  above, 
I  never  noticed  any  injury.  I  noticed  that  the  hogs  mace- 
rated, and  sucked  the  pulp  from  the  seed,  and  dropped  the 
hull  and  lint  upon  the  ground — perhaps  pigs  do  not  do  this. 
Would  not  hulling  free  them  from  any  injurious  quality  ? 
Cannot  some  one  answer  ? 


SECTION  X. — COTTON   SEED. 

MR.  EDITOR  :  Will  you,  or  some  of  your  correspondents, 
please  inform  me  what  would  be  the  cost  of  a  mill  for  extract- 
ing the  oil  from  cotton  seed  ?  It  is  not  very  certain  that  it 
would  be  advisable  for  a  cotton  planter  to  manufacture  oil 
from  his  seed,  even  if  he  could  make  it  a  profitable  business, 
for  they  constitute  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  our  manures  ; 
but  I  should  like  to  know  what  the  profit  would  be.  It  would, 
at  any  rate,  add  to  the  interest  of  your  columns  if  you  could 
furnish  your  readers  with  an  article  on  this  subject,  stating 
the  cost,  and  modus  operandi  of  manufacturing  the  oil. 

I  should  like  also  to  know  if  any  of  your  subscribers  have 
ever  made  the  experiment  of  feeding  hogs  upon  cotton  seed, 
and  what  was  the  result.  I  made  the  experiment  once,  or 
rather  my  hogs  did  it  without  my  knowledge  or  consent,  of 
feeding  them  on  raw,  unrotted  seed ;  they  died  in  conse- 


230  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

qtience ;  but  I  have  no   doubt  a  fine  article  of  food  for  hogs 

might  be  prepared  from  them. 

TETRARCH. 

We  have  no  information  upon  which  we  can  rely,  as  to  the 
cost  of  a  mill  for  making  oil  from  the  cotton  seed,  or  of  the 
profit  of  the  operation.  It  is  a  question  of  interest  in  a  cot- 
ton-growing country,  and  one  which  some  of  our  patrons  are 
doubtless  prepared  to  answer.  We  hope  they  will  do  so. 
We  have  often  heard  of  the  value  of  cotton  seed  when  heated 
or  partially  rotted  as  food  for  hogs.  We  never  had  much 
faith  in  the  recommendation,  and  therefore  never  tried  it.  It 
was  perhaps  because  we  knew  that  they  were  good  for  corn, 
and  that  corn  was,  beyond  all  question,  good  for  hogs.  There 
may,  however,  be  more  in  it  than  we  have  imagined,  and  if  so, 
there  can  be  no  harm  in  finding  it  out.  Who  can  tell  ? — [Eo. 


SECTION   XI. — FEEDING   SHEEP   ON    COTTON   SEED. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  : — Experience  and  observation  has  pre- 
pared me  to  believe  that  sheep  which  are  fed  on  cotton  seed 
are  more  subject  to  the  rot  and  other  diseases  than  when  fed 
on  other  food.  For  the  last  eight  years  my  sheep  were  win- 
tered entirely  on  cotton  seed ;  during  the  most  of  that  time 
they  were  affected  with  a  most  distressing  cough  and  running 
at  the  nose,  which  foretold  their  condition ;  and  after  they 
were  turned  to  grass  in  the  spring,  running  at  large,  they 
continued  to  cough  and  run  at  the  nose,  and  when  the  weather 
became  warm,  would  sicken  and  die  in  large  numbers.  This 
season  I  have  fed  entirely  on  fodder  and  oat  straw,  which 
they  eat  kindly,  and  in  keeping  them  in  this  way  I  find  they 
are  now  healthy  and  sound,  free  from  cough  and  as  clean 
about  the  nose  as  a  goat. 


COTTON  SEED   AS  FOOD   FOR  STOCK.  231 

NOAV,  Messrs.  Editors,  if  cotton  seed  feed  produces  the 
above  stated  facts,  cannot  some  of  your  numerous  correspond- 
ents, or  Dr.  Lee,  enlighten  the  readers  of  the  Cultivator  on 
the  subject. 

1  am,  with  respect,  yours,  &c. 

Raytown,  Ga.,  Feb.  1855.  AARON  W.  GRIER. 


SECTION   XII. — COTTON   SEED   AS   FOOD    FOR   STOCK. 

ALTHOUGH  cows,  sheep,  and  hogs  are  very  fond  of  cotton 
seed  as  a  food,  still  I  regard  them  as  a  bad  and  very  unsafe 
article  of  provender.  They  will  certainly  kill  hogs,  grown 
ones  as  well  as  small  ones,  when  eaten  in  an  unrotted,  or  un- 
cooked state.  Some  persons  contend,  however,  that  if  well 
rotted,  or  cooked,  they  make  an  excellent  article  of  food. 
From  my  experience  and  observation,  I  am  satisfied  that  they 
are  not  good  food  under  any  circumstances.  They  are  worse 
for  hogs  than  for  any  other  stock.  Hence  I  never  give  them  to 
my  swine.  As  a  substitute  for  hay,  fodder,  shucks  or  straw, 
I  frequently  give  them  to  my  cows  and  sheep  through  the 
winter.  But  I  would  never  use  them  to  feed  any  stock  what- 
ever, unless  on  account  of  a  scarcity  of  the  foregoing  articles. 

J.  A.  T. 

SECTION    XIII. — THE    COTTON   TRADE,   FROM    1825   TO    1850. 
BY  PROFESSOR  M'KAY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA. 

INSTEAD  of  our  annual  review  of  the  cotton  trade,  for  a 
single  year,  we  propose  to  extend  our  examinations  back  to  a 
longer  period.  For  this  purpose  we  have  collected,  in  our 
statistical  tables,  the  production,  consumption,  stocks,  and 
prices  of  cotton,  for  each  year  from  1840  to  1850  j  and,  for  the 


232  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

more  important  particulars  of  the  trade,  we  have  gone  back  as 
far  as  1825.  This  period  of  twenty-five  years  we  have  divided 
into  intervals  of  five  years,  and  given  the  average  for  each, 
noting  the  rate  of  increase  or  decrease  for  each  country  sepa- 
rately. By  taking  average  results,  we  get  clear  of  the  fluctua- 
tions arising  from  short  crops,  and  other  disturbing  causes,  and 
are  able  to  observe  the  general  progress,  free  from  those  tem- 
porary variations  which  prevent  our  judging  accurately  the 
real  changes  that  are  taking  place.  In  this  review,  we  shall 
see  a  very  prominent  place  assigned  to  our  country.  The 
United  States  is  now,  not  only  the  largest  producer,  but  the 
largest  consumer,  of  cotton  :  our  production  has  advanced  with 
such  rapid  strides,  that  we  have  distanced  all  competitors: 
the  cotton  goods  worn  by  our  people  exceed  now  the  amount 
used  by  Great  Britain  and  all  her  dependencies  in  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe;  and  the  demands  of  our  manufactories 
have  increased  with  much  greater  rapidity  than  those  of  any 
other  country  in  the  world.  In  the  table  of  supplies,  (Table  I., 
at  the  end  of  this  article,)  we  may  observe,  that,  while  other 
countries  have  been  nearly  stationary,  our  production  has  ad- 
vanced with  great  rapidity.  In  twenty  years,  our  average 
crop  has  increased  from  848,000  bales,  to  2,351,000,  or  nearly 
three  hundred  per  cent.  If  the  period  of  twenty-five  years, 
from  1825  to  1850,  be  divided  into  five  equal  intervals,  the 
increase  for  each  will  be  found  to  be  27,  37,  38,  and  15  per 
cent.  In  the  same  time,  the  production  of  all  other  countries 
has  only  risen  from  383,000  to  440,000  bales;  having  abso- 
lutely declined,  in  the  last  five,  years,  over  16  per  cent.  In 
the  first  period  of  five  years,  the  crop  of  the  United  States 
constituted  GS  per  cent,  of  the  whole;  in  the  second,  74;  in 
the  third, "77;  in  the  fourth,  80;  and,  in  the  fifth,  84  per  cent, 
of  the  whole.  As  our  bags  have  increased  very  much  in 
weight,  and  are  now  much  larger  than  those  of  other  countries, 


THE   COTTON  TRADE.  233 

our  advance  has  been  still  greater,  and  our  rank  still  higher 
than  these  figures  indicate.  If  the  table  of  consumption  (Table 
II.)  be  examined,  it  will  appear  that  our  progress  is  none  the 
less  rapid,  in  comparison  with  other  countries.  In  the  same 
twenty  years,  the  deliveries  to  our  manufactories  have  ad-- 
vanced  325  per  cent.,  viz.,  from  127,000  bales  to  539,000; 
while,  in  the  same  time,  the  advance  of  Great  Britain  has  been 
only  125  per  cent.,  viz.,  from  653,000  bales  to  1,472,000.  In 
each  one  of  these  periods,  our  rate  of  progress  has  been  more 
than  twice  as  rapid  as  hers ;  and  though  the  absolute  amount 
of  our  consumption  is  yet  far"  below  that  consumed  by  the 
English  manufacturers,  yet,  in  the  last  five  years,  our  increase 
has  been  176,000  bales,  while  theirs  has  been  only  180,000. 
At  present,  our  consumption  is  37  per  cent,  of  the  English, 
while  twenty  years  ago  it  was  only  19  per  cent. 

France,  during  all  this  period,  has  remained  nearly  station- 
ary. Twenty  years  ago,  her  consumption  was  257,000  bales; 
now,  it  is  only  363,000.  In  the  last  five  years,  she  has  gone 
backward,  the  decline  having  amounted  to  58,000  bales.  From 
1825  to  1830,  the  deliveries  to  her  manufactories  were  double 
those  of  the  United  States ;  now,  they  are  33  per  cent,  less 
than  ours.  Her  rank,  compared  with  Great  Britain,  and  with 
nearly  every  other  country  in  Europe,  has  also  declined.  In 
Spain,  Belgium,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Russia,  the  increase 
has  been  nearly  as  rapid  as  in  the  United  States.  In  the  last 
five  years,  their  advance  (Table  III.)  has  been  46  per  cent.; 
ours,  49  per  cent.  Their  rank  in  the  cotton-consuming  coun- 
tries is  yet  low,  but  their  rapid  progress  will  soon  bring  them 
to  a  more  important  position.  At  present,  their  consumption 
is  34  per  cent,  of  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when,  taken  together,  will  equal  her.  Twenty  years 
ago,  the  comparative  rank  of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  the  rest  of  the  continent,  was  in  proportion  to  the 


234 

numbers  11,  55,  22,  and  12;  in  the  last  five  years,  the  per- 
centage of  each  has  been  19,  51,  13,  and  17.  If  France  be 
left  out  of  the  comparison,  the  rank  of  each,  twenty  years  ago, 
was  as  13,  70,  and  17  ;  now,  it  is  as  21,  59,  and  20.  Although 
Great  Britain  requires  for  her  manufactories  more  than  half  of 
all  the  cotton  worked  up  in  Europe  and  America,  the  amount 
actually  used  by  her  people,  including  all  that  is  exported  to 
India,  British  America,  Australia,  and  all  the  colonial  depen- 
dencies of  Great  Britain,  is  less  than  the  amount. used  in  the 
United  States.  This  has  been  shown  to  be  true  for  the  last 
four  years  ;  and  the  present  year,  although  it  exhibits  an  ap- 
parent decline  in  our  home  consumption,  forms  no  exception 
to  this  result.  The  enlarged  imports  of  cotton  goods  imported 
into  our  seaports,  compensate,  in  part,  for  the  falling  off  of  the 
wants  of  our  factories.  If  we  compare  the  progress  in  the 
demand  and  supply,  it  will.be  seen  that,  during  the  last  five 
years,  the  consumption  has  increased  much  faster  than  the 
production — the  one  having  advanced  19  per  cent.,  and  the 
other  only  9.  This  might  be  inferred  from  the  decline  in  the 
stocks  ;  but  it  will  be  more  satisfactory  to  consider  the  average 
production  and  consumption  of  the  last  ten  years.  The  aver- 
age amount  taken  by  the  manufacturers,  from  1840  to  1845, 
was  2,414,000  bales,  and,  from  1845  to  1850,  2,869,000  bales, 
showing  an  increase  of  465,000  bales ;  while  the  supply  ad- 
vanced from  2,561,000  bales  to  2,791,000,  with  an  increase  of 
only  230,000  bales.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  last 
period  embraces  the  year  1848,  when,  from  the  revolutions  in 
Europe,  the  consumption  declined  over  600,000  bales,  and  the 
years  1845  and  1849,  when  the  American  crop  so  far  exceeded 
its  usual  average,  this  result  will  be  more  striking  and  impor- 
tant. The  table  of  stocks  (Table  IV.)  confirms  and  establishes 
this  same  result.  At  the  end  of  1844,  the  cotton  on  hand  in 
Europe  was  1,101,000  bales;  at  the  end  of  1849,  it  was  only 
646,000  bales. 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  235 

It  may  be  further  observed,  that  the  increase  in  the  supply 
during  the  last  five  years,  has  been  slower  than  the  natural 
increase  of  laborers.  The  advance  in  the  one  has  been  only 
9  per  cent.,  and  in  the  other  12  or  13.  As  many  new  hands 
have  been  brought  to  the  Southern  States  during  this  period, 
the  rate  of  increase  in  the  working  force  of  the  cotton-growing 
States  has  been  still  greater  than  12  or  13  per  cent.  This 
excess  has  occurred  at  no  former  period.  From  1825  to  1850, 
the  increments  for  each  period  of  five  years  have  been  18,  32, 
33,  and  9  per  cent. ;  always  above  the  increments  of  popula- 
tion, except  in  the  last  interval.  It  follows,  from  this,  that 
labor  and  capital  have  found  other  modes  "of  employment  more 
attractive  and  profitable  than  the  raising  of  cotton.  It  is  well 
known  that  this  has  been  to  some  extent  true  in  the  United 
States,  but  it  has  been  more  evident  and  striking  in  India  and 
Brazil.  In  these  countries,  the  crop  has  declined  16  peir  cent, 
in  the  last  five  years.  From  Brazil,  it  has  declined  regularly 
for  the  last  twenty  years ;  and  the  recent  advance  in  coffee 
will  tend  still  more  to  divert  labor  from  the  production  of  cot- 
ton. The  abolition  of  the  discriminating  duty  in  favor  of  East 
India  cotton,  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  the  very  low  prices 
which  have  recently  prevailed,  have  not  only  stopped  any  in- 
crease in  the  imports  of  Surat  and  Madras,  but  turned  the  cur- 
rent in  the  opposite  direction.  The  advance  in  the  fifteen 
years  before  1845,  was  10,  80,  and  60  per  cent.,  in  each  inter- 
val of  five  years  ;  but,  from  1845  to  1850,  the  decline  has  been 
24  per  cent.  It  may  fairly  be  deduced  from  this,  that  the 
prices  of  the  last  five  years  have  not  afforded  sufficient  en- 
couragement to  production,  and  that  the  planters  may  now 
look  for  a  permanent  improvement  in  prices.  The  table  of 
prices  (Table  V.)  shows  that  for  the  last  five  years  the  average 
price  at  the  seaports  of  the  United  States  has  been  seven  cents 
and  three  mills ;  and  it  may  be  expected,  with  confidence,  that 


236  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

they  will  not  rule  so  low  hereafter — that  the  average  rates  will 
not  merely  experience  a  temporary  rise,  as  if  caused  by  the 
short  crop  and  the  small  stocks  of  the  present  year,  but  a  per- 
manent and  continued  advance. 

The  table  of  stocks  (Table  IV.)  represents  the  amounts  on 
hand  in  the  seaports  of  Europe  continually  increasing  from 
1840  to  1850,  while  during  the  four  years  ending  1849,  they 
have  been  nearly  stationary.  Comparing  them  with  the  wants 
of  the  manufacturers,  as  is  done  in  the  column  which  contains 
the  number  of  weeks  that  the  stocks  would  supply  the  con- 
sumption of  the  factories,  the  supply  was  a  trifle  lower  at  the 
close  of  1849,  after  the  receipt  of  the  largest  crop  ever  brought 
to  market,  than  it  had  been  during  the  last  ten  years.  The 
number  of  bales  was  a  little  greater  than  at  the  close  of  1848; 
but  the  time  this  stock  would  supply  the  wants  of  the  manu- 
facturers, was  a  little  less.  After  this  review  of  the  history  of 
the  trade  in  cotton  for  the  last  ten  years,  if  we  remember  that 
the  production  of  1850  has  been  much  below  the  average  of 
the  last  five  years,  and  that  the  prospects  of  the  next  year's 
crop  are  but  a  little  better,  it  is  evident  that  the  present  ad- 
vance in  cotton  is  founded  upon  no  speculative  basis,  but  on 
the  unchangeable  laws  of  supply  and  demand.  Two  short 
crops  are  succeeding  each  other,  while  the  stocks  on  hand  are 
very  much  reduced.  To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  everything 
is  favorable  to  a  large  consumption.  Peace  everywhere  pre- 
vails, except  in  the  unimportant  Duchies  of  Schleswig  Holstein. 
Money  is  abundant,  and  the  currency  everywhere  undisturbed. 
Food  is  very  cheap.  The  present  harvest  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  the  last,  is  much  above  an  average.  Thus,  while  stocks 
are  low,  and  the  supply  small,  the  demand  is  large.  Prices, 
therefore,  must  maintain  a  high  level,  unless  commotions  in 
France,  or  some  unforeseen  event  of  commanding  importance, 
interferes  with  the  regular  operation  of  commerce.  In  con- 


THE   COTTON  TRADE.  237 

sidering  tlie  supply  and  demand  of  the  -coming  year,  we  must, 
therefore,  base  all  our  estimates  on  high  prices.  The  receipts 
from  India  and  Brazil,  and  the  consumption,  in  Europe  and 
America,  will  all  be  affected  by  this  fact.  If  the  advance  Avere 
slight,  it  would  not  experience  any  sensible  check ;  but  when 
the  price  has  risen  to  its  present  rate,  (13|-  cents  for  middling 
fair,  Savannah,  October  23d,)  an  advance  of  85  per  cent,  over 
the  average  of  the  last  five  years,  the  amount  purchased  even 
in  our  country  may  be  expected  to  decline.  The  supply  for 
1851  will  probably  exceed  that  of  1850,  not  only  from  the 
United  States,  but  from  India  and  Brazil. 

The  past  season  here  has  been  unfavorable  for  the  growth 
of  cotton ;  but  its  disasters,  especially  in  the  West,  have  not 
been  as  severe  as  in  the  preceding  year.  In  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  there  will  be  a  decided -decline.  The  late  cold 
spring,  and  the  long  drought  in  June  and  July,  left  the  plants 
small,  and  the  bolls  few  and  scattering.  The  severe  storm  on 
the  24th  of  August  blew  out  on  the  ground  much  open  cotton, 
and  prostrated  and  twisted  the  stalks  so  much,  that  there  has 
been  no  late  crop  of  forms  to  mature  in  October.  September 
was  a  beautiful  season  for  gathering,  and  so  was  much  of 
October.  There  are  some  plantations  where  the  crop  is  very 
fine.  The  hot  summer  favored  a  rapid  growth,  and  repaired, 
in  part,  the  injury  done  by  a  late  spring.  The  general  drought 
was,  at  some  places,  relieved  by  local  showers,  which  brought 
out  some  superior  crops.  The  amount  of  land  planted  was 
greater  than  ever.  The  receipts  at  Charleston  and  Savannah 
will  also  be  increased  by  the  extension  of  the  Georgia  Rail- 
road to  the  Tennessee  river.  Were  it  not  for  this  last  cause,  a 
falling  off  of  100,000  bales  might  be  anticipated.  With  this, 
the  deficiency  will  not  probably  exceed  70,000  or  80,000 ;  and 
the  receipts  of  these  two  ports  may  be  expected  to  reach 
650,000  bales.  From  Alabama,  the  reports  have  not  been  so 


238  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

disastrous.  The  spring  was  late,  and  the  stand  poor ;  but  the 
dry  summer  prevented  the  ravages  of  the  worm,  which  had 
done  so  much  damage  the  preceding  year.  The  river  floods 
had  also  done  harm  the  last  season ;  and  these  they  have 
escaped.  The  prairie-lands  have  not  suffered  so  much  with 
rust  as  before.  On  the  Tombigbee,  and  also  on  the  Black 
\Yarrior,  the  prospects  of  the  planters  are  very  much  above 
those  of  last  year.  On  the  Alabama,  the  promise  is  about  the 
same  as  last  year.  Still  the  disasters  have  been  severe,  and 
the  crop  will  be  below  an  average.  An  increase  of  90,000  or 
100,000  bales  in  the  receipts  at  Mobile,  including  the  Mont- 
gomery shipments  to  New  Orleans  may,  with  confidence,  be 
anticipated.  From  Florida,  a  slight  increase  may  be  looked 
for.  The  amount  of  land  planted  has  been  considerably  en- 
larged, and  the  drought  has  not  been  as  general  as  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  cotton  region.  At  New  Orleans  and  in 
Texas,  a  gain  may  be  looked  for.  The  failure  last  year  was 
so  great,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  expect  a  like  deficiency 
again.  From  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  the  greater  part  of 
Mississippi,  the  reports  have  been  better  than  last  year.  The 
early  frost  of  October  6th,  injured  not  a  little  of  the  cotton  as 
far  north  as  Memphis  ;  but  in  general,  even  in  Tennessee,  the 
plant  remained  green  and  flourishing,  till  the  general  frost  at 
the  close  of  the  month.  The  production  of  Tennessee  and 
North  Alabama  will  fall  below  that  of  last  year,  and  a  portion 
of  this  will  not  reach  New  Orleans.  The  crop  was  every- 
where backward,  but  the  hot,  dry  summer  helped  to  repair 
this  damage,  and  by  keeping  off  the  caterpillar  and  boll-worm, 
permitted  the  forms  to  mature.  The  severe  storms  that  did 
so  mucji  harm  in  Florida  and  the  Atlantic  States,  did  not  ex- 
tend so  far  to  the  west.  The  season  for  gathering  has  been 
very  fine,  and  the  time  of  frost  late  enough  to  mature  nearly 
every  boll  that  could  make  cotton.  The  average  receipts  at 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  239 

New  Orleans,  for  four  years  past,  has  been  943,000  bales  ;  and 
this  period  includes  two  short  and  two  full  crops.  For  the 
present  year,  I  would  estimate  them  at  850,000  bales.  Com- 
bining these  estimates,  the  whole  supply  from  the  United 
States  will  amount  to  2,200,000  bales  (see  Table  VI.),  which 
is  about  100,000  in  advance  of  the  last  five  years.  The  re- 
ceipts from  India  have  increased  very  much  during  the  pre- 
sent year,  under  the  stimulus  of  high  prices,  and  they  are 
destined  to  advance  still  more  for  the  coming  season. 

The  purchases  now  making  in  Bombay  for  the  English 
market  are  reported  to  be  large ;  and  when  the  new  crop 
begins  to  arrive  at  the  seaports,  the  current  will  turn  still 
more  strongly  towards  England.  Not  only  is  their  production 
enlarged  by  high  prices  in  Europe,  but  a  larger  portion  of  the 
crop  is  diverted  from  China,  and  from  domestic  use,  for  the 
Western  markets. 

The  average  imports  into  Great  Britain  for  the  last  three 
years  have  been  211,000  bales  ;  but  for  the  first  nine  months 
of  the  present  year,  they  have  reached  128,000  bales  for 
Liverpool  alone  ;  and  for  the  whole  year,  for  all  the  ports,  they 
will  probably  reach  300,000  bales.  For  1851  not  less  than 
325,000  bales  may  be  anticipated.  This  is  higher,  much  higher 
than  any  former  year.  The  year  1841  was  the  largest  before 
1850,  and  then  the  amount  was  275,000  bales.  The  high 
prices  that  are  now  prevailing,  and  that  are  likely  to  prevail 
for  the  present  season,  authorize  us  to  expect  an  increase,  even 
over  the  present  year.  (Table  VII.) 

From  Brazil,  Egypt,  and  other  places,  an  advance  over  the 
usual  average  may  also  be  looked  for.  The  average  imports 
into  England  from  1845  to  1849,  were  175,000  bales ;  Jmt  for 
the  present  year,  the  amount  will  exceed  260,000  bales,  and 
for  1851  will  be  still  larger.  (Table  VIII.)  If  we  estimate 
them  at  275,000,  the  whole  supply  from  all  these  sources 


240  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

(Table  IX.)  will  reach  2,800,000  bales.  In  reference  to  the 
consumption,  we  may  remark,  that  the  purchases  for  our  home 
manufactories  have  declined  during  the  present  year  over 
30,000  bales.  The  high  price  of  the  raw  material,  the  low 
duties  on  foreign  goods,  and  the  immense  imports  of  cotton 
fabrics  from  England,  have  caused  this  retrograde  movement. 
In  1849,  there  was  a  falling  off  of  14,000  bales,  so  that  our 
consumption  is  now  44,000  bales  below  that  of  1848.  Doubt- 
less the  stocks  in  the  hands  of  the  manufacturers  are  very 
small,  and  a  slight  advance  in  goods  would  set  all  the  mills  at 
work  again.  The  universal  prosperity  of  the  country  forbids 
us  to  expect  the  extension,  or  even  the  continuance  of  this  de- 
pression. For  1851,  I  would  estimate  the  demand  at  500,000 
bales,  which  is  11,000  above  the  consumption  of  the  present 
year  (Table  X.),  and  13,000  below  the  average  of  the  last 
year.  In  Great  Britain  the  falling  off  in  the  purchases  of  the 
manufactures  have  been  very  slight  (Table  XL),  and  as  the 
reported  purchases  last  year  were  80,000  or  90,000  bales 
above  the  actual  deliveries  to  the  manufacturers,  the  real  de- 
ficiency is  less  than  the  apparent.  For  the  present  year,  the 
consumption  in  Great  Britain  will  not  be  below  1,500,000 
bales,  against  1,588,000  in  1846,  and  1,491,000  in  1848. 
Everything  has  been  favorable  to  a  large  consumption,  except 
the  price  of  the  raw  material.  Money  has  been  abundant — 
food  of  all  kinds  cheap — and  labor  well  rewarded.  These  ele- 
ments of  prosperity  have  not  been  confined  to  Great  Britain, 
and  therefore  her  exports  of  cotton-goods  have  been  unprece- 
dentedly  large.  The  home  and  foreign  demand  being  both 
good,  the  factories  have  run  full  time,  in  spite  of  the  high 
price  of  cotton.  This  never  occurred  before,  and  cannot  be 
expected  again,. with  any  considerable  confidence.  At  every 
former  period,  an  advance  in  the  raw  material  has  checked 
the  demands  of  the  factories,  and  lessened  the  purchases  of 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  241 

the  consumers.  For  the  coming  year,  everything  is  fully  as 
favorable  as  the  last ;  and  if  these  favorable  tendencies  have 
counteracted  the  tendency  of  high  prices  in  the  raw  material, 
it  will  be  proper  to  expect  the  same  for  1851  as  for  1850. 
We  may,  therefore,  set  down  1,500,000  bales  as  the  probable 
English  consumption  for  the  next  year. 

In  France  there  has  been  a  decided  decline  (Table  XII.) 
in  the  deliveries  to  the  manufacturers.  Our  exports  have 
fallen  from  368,000  bales  to  290,000,  and  the  stocks  on  hand 
the  1st  of  October,  were  almost  exactly  the  same  as  last 
year.  The  purchases  at  Havre  for  the  first  nine  months  of 
the  present  year  have  been  249,000  bales,  against  290,000  in 
1849.  From  these  figures  we  cannot  estimate  the  consump- 
tion of  American  cotton  for  the  present  year  higher  than 
300,000  bales,  against  351,000  for  1849.  No  advance  on  this 
can  be  expected  for  the  next  year,  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
anticipate  any  appreciable  decline.  For  the  rest  of  Europe, 
we  have  the  exports  from  the  United  States  for  the  present 
year,  194,000  bales,  and  the  exports  from  Liverpool  up  to 
October  llth,  193,000  bales.  The  whole  English  exports  of 
1849  were  254,000  bales ;  and  as  their  amount  on  October 
12th  was  21,000  more  this  year  than  last,  the  whole  exports 
for  the  year  from  all  the  ports  will  probably  reach  275,000 
bales,  making  the  total  supply  from  these  two  countries  of 
469,000  bales.  As  the  stocks  on  hand  on  the  continent  last 
year  were  very  low,  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  them  much 
lower.  They  are  now,  however,  at  several  ports,  lower  than 
last  year,  so  that  the  consumption  will  probably  exceed  469,000 
bales.  As  this  is  a  decline  of  over  100,000  bales  from  1849, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  so  low  a  limit  can  be  reached 
for  the  year  1851.  Heretofore  their  progress  has  been  for? 
ward  and  rapid ;  and  were  it  not  for  high  prices,  this  would 
continue.  If  we  estimate  their  wants  for  1851  at  £00;OQQ 
11 


242 

bales,  we  have  the  total  consumption  (Table  XIII.)  of 
2,800,000  bales — the  same  as  the  supply.  As  the  stocks  are 
now  much  lower  than  last  year  (Table  XIV.)  and  as  they 
were  then  very  low,  they  will  bear  no  further  reduction  with- 
out a  material  advance  in  prices.  On  the  contrary,  any  de- 
cline in  price  would  immediately  permit  the  consumption  to 
expand,  not  only  in  France  and  the  rest  of  the  continent,  but 
even  in  England.  We  may  expect,  therefore,  that  the  present 
high  range  of  prices  will  be  maintained. 

The  review  that  has  been  taken  of  the  supply  and  the  de- 
mand, shows  that  the  present  advance  in  cotton  is  the  result 
of  no  speculative  movement,  but  that  it  is  based  on  the  immu- 
table laws  of  trade.  The  long  prevalence  of  low  prices 
has  stimulated  consumption  and  diminished  production,  until 
the  stocks  on  hand  have  fallen  to  an  extremely  low  limit. 
Exactly  at  this  point  an  unfavorable  season  has  lessened  the 
crop,  and  an  abundant  harvest,  and  every  other  element  of 
general  prosperity,  have  encouraged  the  demand.  We  con- 
gratulate the  planters  on  the  handsome  returns  they  are 
receiving  for  their  crops,  and  we  may  extend  our  congratula- 
tions to  the  \rhole  country,  for  what  benefits  them  is  a  benefit 
to  all. 


THE   COTTON   TRADE. 
TABLE  I.— Supply  of  Cotton,  (in  thousand  bales.) 


243 


f  . 

a 
^ 

a* 

s 
1 

CQ 

*2 
&1 

jg  . 

!'! 

Ji'e, 

s| 

1 

YEABS. 

£,£ 

§j 

*J  0 

^2 

*j-g 

i| 

£™ 

8j 

PQ 

®-£ 

®.-s 

3s 

f 

02  •* 

tE*" 

1 

"s  -2 

2% 

23 

HP 

1 

P 

p 

H 

W-5 

«•" 

1840  

2178 

50 

2228 

216 

146 

111 

474 

2701 

1841    

1635 

55 

1690 

275 

166 

128 

569 

2259 

1842 

1684 

55 

1739 

255 

124 

166 

545 

2284 

1843  .  .     

2379 

60 

2439 

182 

176 

523 

2962 

1844    .... 

2030 

60 

2090 

134 

197 

80 

511 

2601 

1845 

2395 

65 

2460 

150 

201 

105 

461 

2921 

1846    

2101 

70 

2171 

95 

155 

69 

819 

2490 

1847   .   .         

1779 

80 

1859 

254 

135 

122 

481 

2340 

1848 

2348 

90 

2438 

228 

137 

36 

401 

2839 

1849              ...  . 

2729 

100 

2829 

182 

245 

111 

538 

8367 

Average  from  1825  to  1830  .  .  . 
"    "  1830  to  1835.  .. 

838 
1055 

10 
20 

848 
1075 

73 

81 

211 
186 

99 

108 

882 

375 

1231 
1450 

"    "  1835  to  1840  .  .  . 

1440 

35 

1475 

144 

196 

104 

444 

1919 

"    "  1840  to  1845.  .. 

1981 

56 

2037 

232 

160 

132 

524 

2561 

"    "  1845  to  1850.  .. 

2270 

81 

2351 

177 

175 

88 

440 

2791 

Increase  per  cent,  in  20  years.. 
15  years.. 

171 
115 

177 
119 

142 
118 

17 

8 

15 

17 

117 
99 

10  years.. 
"     "       5  years.. 

58 
15 



59 
15 

23 
24 

11 
9 

.... 

1 
16 

40 
2 

TABLE  II. — Consumption  of  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  of 
Europe  and  America,  (in  thousand  bales.) 


, 

TEAKS. 

United  States, 
n'rth  of  Eichmond. 

United  States, 
Total  for. 

Total  for  Great 
Britain. 

United  States  Cot- 
ton in  France. 

Total  for  France. 

Total  for  these 
three. 

Total  for  Europe 
and  America. 

1840             

295 

845 

1271 

874 

440 

2056 

2370 

1841            .      ..*  

297 

852 

1158 

868 

422 

1932 

2252 

1842       

268 

323 

1207 

364 

442 

1972 

2310 

1843                

325 

385 

1885 

351 

409 

2179 

2573 

1844  

847 

407 

1438 

835 

892 

2237 

2564 

1845                 

889 

454 

1574 

851 

419 

2447 

2918 

1846  

423 

493 

1574 

860 

403 

2470 

2968 

1847           

428 

508 

1131 

252 

293 

1932 

2296 

1848  

582 

622 

1491 

276 

808 

2416 

2901 

1849             

518- 

618 

1588 

851 

399 

2605 

3264 

Average  from  1825  to  1830     

117 

127 

653 

257 

1037 

1187 

"    "  1830  to  1835 

175 

195 

876 

269 

1340 

1540 

"    "  1835  to  1840  
"    "  1840  to  1845 

240 
807 

275 
863 

1069 
1292 

... 

849 
421 

1693 
2076 

1943 
2414 

"    "  1845  to  1850  

458 

589 

1472 

368 

2374 

2869 

''Increase  per  cent,  in  20  years  

290 

825 

125 

41 

129 

142 

15  years  
10  years 

161 
91 

176 
96 

68 

88 

... 

85 
4 

T7 
40 

86 
48 

"     "      5  years  

59 

49 

14 

.... 

14 

14 

19 

244 


COTTON   PLANTERS   MANUAL. 


TABLE  III. — Consumption  of  Europe  and  America,  omitting  England, 
France,  and  United  States,  (in  thousand  bales.} 


YEA!*. 

1! 

QQ 

Exports  from 
Great  Britain. 

II 

|| 

Stock,  Jan.  1. 

Stock,  Dec.  81. 

Consumption. 

1840 

182 

123 

49 

72 

314 

1841 

106 

116 

74 

112 

320 

1842  

132 

138 

88 

88 

108 

883 

1843 

194 

119 

118 

108 

145 

394 

1844  

144 

141 

23 

145 

26 

237 

1845  .  . 

85 

122 

87 

126 

99 

471 

1846  

205 

194 

26 

99 

26 

498 

1847  

169 

215 

81 

26 

87 

404 

1848 

255 

192 

87 

58 

4S5 

1849  

322 

254 

63 

58 

i-8 

659 

Average  from  1840  to  1845  

838 

"    "  1845tol850  

495 

Increase  per  cent,  in  five  years  

46 

TABLE  IV. — Stock  31st  December,  (in  thousand  bales.) 


YBABS 

I 

_o 

1 

o 

Week's  Consump- 
tion in  Great 
Britain. 

I 

France. 

Eest  of  the  Conti- 
nent. 

Whole  of  Europe. 

1 

1840    

366 

464 

18 

80 

97 

112 

678 

17 

1841           

430 

588 

24 

90 

135 

88 

761 

21 

1842  

457 

561 

24 

109 

138 

108 

807 

21 

1848      

654 

786 

9 

101 

125 

145 

1056 

25 

1844 

745 

897 

82 

58 

78 

126 

1101 

26 

1845   

885 

1057 

85 

52 

65 

99 

1221 

26 

1846           

489 

547 

18 

25 

47 

26 

620 

18 

1847  

864 

451 

16 

43 

53 

87 

591 

17 

1848    

893 

498 

17 

20 

81 

58 

587 

13 

1849  

468 

559 

18 

88 

49 

88 

646 

18 

THE   COTTON  TRADE. 


245 


TABLE  V. — Amount,  Value,  and  Price  of  American  Cotton. 


YEARS. 

Exports  in  millions 
of  pounds. 

Value,  in  millions 
of  dollars. 

| 

I 
<3 
| 

£ 

"Whole  crop  of 
United  States. 

Value  of  United 

States. 

Liverpool  prices  of 
Uplands  in  pence. 

1840  .. 

744 

64 

8-6 

891 

77 

6 

1841 

530 

54 

10-2 

6S4 

70 

6L 

1842  

577 

48 

8-1 

704 

58 

5| 

1843 

817 

49 

6*0 

988 

59 

4| 

1844  

664 

54 

81 

857 

69 

4j 

1845 

873 

52 

6-0 

109 

61 

4| 

1846  

548 

43 

7-9 

901 

71 

4£ 

1847  

527 

53 

10-1 

771 

78 

6| 

1848  

814 

62 

7-6 

1011 

77 

4i 

1849  

1027 

66 

6-5 

1174 

76 

54 

Average  from  1825  to  1830  

219 

28 

12-8 

288 

87 

7? 

"    "   1830  to  1835 

312 

84 

10-9 

887 

42 

7i 

"    "   1835  to  1840   

446 

64 

14-4 

560 

81 

8* 

"    "   1840  to  1845    

666 

54 

8-1 

825 

67 

5* 

"    "   1845  to  1850  

754 

55 

7-3 

972 

71 

5k 

TABLE  VI.— United  States  Crop. 


KECEIPT3. 

ESTIMATE. 

1848. 

1849. 

1850. 

1851. 

Texas,  bales  

40,000 

89,000 

31,000 

50,000 

New  Orleans  

1,191,000 

1,094,000 

782,000 

850,000 

Mobile  

436,000 

509,000 

351,000 

440,000 

Florida  

154,000 

200,000 

181,000 

190,000 

255,000 

391,000 

344,000 

800,000 

South  Carolina  

262,000 

458,000 

884,000 

350,000 

Other  places  

10,000 

28,000 

24,000 

20,000 

Total  

2,348,000 

2,729,000 

2,097,000 

2,200,000 

TABLE  VII. 
English  Imports  from  East  Indies. 


Imports. 

Bales. 

1835  to  1840,  average,  144,000 
1840  to  1845,  "  232,000 
1845  to  1850,  "  177,000 

1848,  Oct.  6,  to  L'pooL    93,000 

1849,  Oct.  5,       "  «Q  ™rt 

1850,  Oct.  4,       « 
1848,  whole  year, 
1849, 


128,000 
228,000 
182,000 


1850,  est  whole  year,  300,000 

1851,  "       "         325,000 


Remarks. 

Hi£h  prices. 
Chinese  war. 
Peace,  low  prices 
Moderate  prices. 
Low  prices. 
High  prices. 
Moderate  prices. 
Low  prices. 
High  prices. 
High  prices. 


TABLE  VIII. 

English  Imports  from  Brazil, 
Egypt,  etc. 


Years. 


About  1st  Oct.  Whole  yr. 

Liverpool.  Gt.  Brit. 

Bales.  Bales. 

1846, 121,000  155,000 

1847, 75,000  135,000 

1848 94.000  137,000 

1849, 178,000  245,OOC 

1850,  208,000  260,000 

1851, 275,OOC 


246 


COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 


TABLE  IK.— Supply  of  Colic,;. 


Crop  of  United  States 

English  imports  from  East  Indies  . . . 
"  "  other  places. . 


1849. 

Bales. 

2,729,000 

182,000 

245,000 


1S50. 

Bales. 
2,097,000 

300,000 
270,000 


1851. 

Bales. 

2,200,000 

325,000 

275,000 


Total  from  these  sources 8,156,000       2,667,000       2,800,000 


TABLE  X.- — -United  States  Consumption. 
Years.  Amount       Average  for    Inc.  per  cent.  Inc.  per  cent 


Consumed. 

1846 423,000 

1847 428,000 

1848 532,000 

1849 518,000 

I860 488,000 


38(5,000 
413,000 
461,000 
493,000 
515,000 


per  annum,  for  3  years. 
9-0  23 

7-0  82 

11-5  80 

7-0  28 

4-0  24 


TABLE  XI. — Deliveries  to  the  Trade  at  Liverpool. 


1849. 

Bales. 

March  8 824,000 

Aprill2 433,000 

May  10 562,000 

June  21 748,000 

July  6 835,000 

August9 1,037,000 

September  6 1,141,000 

October  4 1,220,000 

November  11 1,237,000 


Consumption 
each  week. 

Bales. 

86,000 
30,929 


81,167 
83,926 
82,206 
81,694 
80,500 
81,390 


1850. 

Bales. 
227,000 
838,000 
501,000 
672,000 
742,000 
907,000 
981,000 
1,886,000 
1,116,000 


Consumption 
each  week. 

Bulea. 
25,222 
24,143 
27,833 
28,000 
28,222 
28,942 
28,029 
27,150 
27,219 


TABLE  XII.— Deliveries  to  the  Trade  at  Havre. 


1849. 

Bales. 

Mayl 120,141 

Julyl 193,971 

August  1 243,040 

September  1 279,541 

October  1 290,585 


Consumption 
each  month. 

Bales. 

80,035 
32,328 
34,720 
87,442 
86,328 

1850. 

104,728 
167,653 
200,650 
832,190 
249,707 

Consumption 
each  month. 

Bale*. 
26,182 
27,942 
28,664 
29,024 
27,528 

TABLE  XIII. — Consumption. 


1849.       1850.       1851. 

Great  Brit.,  all  kinds  1,588,000  1,500,000  1,500,000 
France,  of  Am.  cotton  351,000     300,000 
The  rest  of  the  Cont't   596,000     470,000 


Total 2,535,000  2,270,000  2,300,000  Hamburg,  Oct  1 . . . . 

— Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 


TABLE  XIY. 


Stocks  at  Recent  Dates. 

1849.        1850. 

800 666 Liverpool,  Oct.  12  ...  588.0*00  482,000 

500,000  Havre,  Oct.  9 46,000  46,000 

United  States,  Sept  1,  155,000  168,000 

5,000  2,000 


Total 788,000    698,000 


COTTON  STALK  HEMP.  247 

SECTION   XIV. — COTTON   STALK   HEMP. 

From  Hie  Madison  Family  Visitor. 

Our  readers  will  be  interested  in  the  extract  which  follows, 
from  a  letter  of  Col.  John  B.  Walker,  to  the  Editor  of  this 
paper,  under  date  New  Orleans,  Nov.  llth.  The  Cotton 
Stalk  Hemp  promises  to  be  an  article  of  quite  considerable 
importance. 

'•'  I  went  yesterday  with  Gen.  Gordon  and  Lieut.  Governor 
Horton,  of  Texas,  to  see  the  Cotton  Harvest  Gatherer,  and 
the  Cotton  Stalk  Hemp.  The  first  article  is  intended  to  pick 
cotton  from  the  boll  and  put  it  in  a  bag.  This  I  regard  as 
worthless — not  a  humbug,  because  it  will  not  likely  deceive 
any  one  but  the  inventor  :  farmers  will  not  be  caught  with  it. 
The  Cotton  Stalk  Hemp  is,  in  my  opinion,  worthy  of  the 
highest  consideration.  It  has  the  color  of  the  Gunny  or  East 
India  bagging,  and  the  fibre  is  as  strong  as  that  of  the  hemp. 
It  is  prepared  by  knocking  off  the  lateral  limbs  of  the  cotton 
stalk,  then  cutting  down  the  stalk  and  burying  it  in  a  plough 
furrow  in  the  field,  where  it  lies  covered  up  for  fifteen  days. 
It  is  then  taken  up  and  broken,  as  you  break  hemp,  and  this 
clears  it  of  the  woody  fibre,  and  it  is  fit  for  spinning  in  any 
way,  either  by  machinery  or  by  hand.  Again,  it  is  better 
prepared  by  sowing  the  cotton  broadcast  and  thickly ;  this 
causes  the  stalk  to  run  up  in  height  and  clear  of  lateral  limbs, 
more  nearly  resembling  the  hemp  weed. 

"The  discoverer  of  this  process  of  making  cotton  stalk  hemp 
is  a  Frenchman,  of  Baton  Rouge,  by  the  name  of  John  Blanc. 
He  has  been  four  years  engaged  in  experiments,  and  has  now 
just  obtained  his  patent  right  from  the  Patent  Office. 

"  I  was  happy  to  meet  our  old  county  friend,  Mr.  Wm.  J. 
Vasoon,  at  the  place  where  this  cotton  stalk  hemp  is  exhibited, 


248  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

and  see  him  test  the  strength  of  the  fibre.  When  we  shall 
get  the  cotton  wool,  and  then  the  bark  from  the  stalk  for  our 
bagging  and  rope,  and  the  oil  from  the  seed,  and  the  cotton 
seed  hulls  converted  to  some  practical  purposes,  and  the  cot- 
ton stalk  roots  manufactured  into  patent  medicine  as  an  elixir 
to  perpetuate  the  existence  of  the  negro  who  cultivates  the 
plant,  we  can  then  imagine  that  it  has  its  true,  intrinsic  and 
inestimable  value.  It  will  then  be  worth  a  war  on  the  part 
of  the  South  to  sustain  and  defend  it,  and  claim  a  place  for  it 
and  its  cultivators  in  any  reputable  portion  of  this  earth." 


CHAP  TER    VII. 


LETTER  FROM  THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE,  TRANSMIT- 
TING A  STATEMENT  RESPECTING  THE  TARIFF  DUTIES 
AND  CUSTOM-HOUSE  REGULATIONS  APPLICABLE  TO 
AMERICAN  COTTON. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  ) 

WASHINGTON,  May  30, 1856.  i 

SIR  :  In  compliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  12th  instant,  "  that  the  Secretary  of 
State  he  requested  to  communicate  to  this  House,  in  tabular 
form,  such  information  as  may  be  in^ possession  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  respecting  the  tariff  duties  and  custom-house 
regulations  applicable  to  American  cotton  in  the  principal 
commercial  countries ;  also,  tabular-  comparative  statements 
showing,  1st.  The  quantities  of  cotton  exported  from  the 
United  States  to  the  principal  commercial  countries,  respect- 
ively, and  the  aggregate  ^amount  of  duties  derived  therefrom  ; 
2d.  The  quantities  of  cotton  imported  into  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Spain,  respectively,  and  the  countries  whence 
imported ;  3d.  The  quantities  exported  by  Great  Britain  to  all 
countries,  respectively ;  and  4th.  The  quantities  and  values 
of  cotton  manufactures  and  yarns  exported  from  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  ;  respectively,  to  all  countries  ;  each  of 
these  statements  embracing  a  period  of  five  years,  from  1851 
to  1855,  both  inclusive,  or  for  so  much  of  said  period  as  au- 
*  [2491 


250  COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 

thentic  data  are  attainable  ;  together  with  such  other  general 
information  respecting  the  cotton  trade  of  the  United  States 
as  may  be  deemed  pertinent  to  the  purport  of  this  resolution," 
I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  the  accompanying  papers. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  L.  MARCY. 
Hon.  N.  P.  BANKS,  JR., 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

STATISTICAL  OFFICE,  May  28, 1856. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you,  herewith,  an  an- 
swer to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
12th  instant,  requesting  certain  information  on  the  subject  of 
the  cotton  trade,  with  the  preparation  of  which  I  was  charged. 
The  subject  has  been  treated  in  detail  in  the  report  on  the 
commercial  relations  of  the  United  States  with  all  foreign 
nations,  recently  transmitted  from  this  office,  and  now  in  course 
of  printing. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  EDMUND  FLAGG, 

Hon.  W.  L.  MARCY, 

Secretary  of  State. 


TARIFF   DUTIES.  251 

I. — Statement  respecting  the  tariff'  duties  and  custom-liouse 
regulations  applicable  to  American  cotton  in  the  principal 
commercial  countries. 

COUNTRIES.  LBS.         .  RATES  OF  DUTY. 

Great  Britain,      .     .       Free. 

France,     ....       220,          In  national  vessels,  $3  72 ;  in 

foreign  vessels,  $6  48.* 
Spain, 101,          In  national  vessels,  79^- cents ; 

in  foreign  vessels,  $1  25. 
Russia,      ....         36,          18f  cents. 
Bremen,      ....     Ad  val.,    f  of  1  per  cent. 

Sardinia,   ....         Free. 

Belgium,     ....       Free. 

Austria,     ....         Free. 

Sweden  and  Norway,     In  Sweden,  free;  in  Norway, 

nearly  J  cent  per  pound 

Mexico, 101,          $1  50. 

Hamburg,      .     .     .      Ad.  val.,  %  of  1  per  cent. 

Holland,     ....       Free. 

Two  Sicilies,      .     .       192-05,     $8. 

British  N.  A.  possess™1-    Free. 

Denmark,    ....       Free. 

Portugal,  ....       101,          2  1-5  cents. 

Tuscany,    ....       Free. 

Papal  States,      .     .         74'86,     10  cents> 

Cuba, 101,          In  national  vessels,  19£;   in 

foreign  vessels,  27£  per  ct. 

on  a  valuation  of  $5. 

*  By  the  treaty  of  1822  United  States  vessels  are  equalized  with  French 
vessels  in  the  direct  importation  into  France  of  articles  the  growth,  manu- 
facture, or  produce  of  the  United  States. 


252 


COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 


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TARIFF   DUTIES. 


253 


III. —  Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cotton  im- 
ported into  Great  Britain,  and  the  countries  whence  imported,  for  a 
period  of  jive  years,  from  1851  to  1855,  both  inclusive.* 


Years. 

Pounds  of  cotton  imported  into  Great  Britain  from 

TJ.  States. 

Brazil. 

Egypt.* 

E.  Indies.* 

W.  Ind.tj  E'whore.  All  countries 

1851  .       .  . 

1852. 
1853.       .. 
1854 
1855.       .. 

Aggregate 
Average  .  . 

596,638,962 
765,630,544 
658,451,796 
722,151,360 
679,264,096 

19,339,104 
26,506,144 
24,190.628 
19,703,600 
24,577,952 

16,950,525  122,626,976 
48,05S,640|  84,922,432 
28,353,574181,848,160 
23,353,120  119,829,152 
32,622,688145,218,976 

446,529 
703,696 
344,060 
205,072 
No  data. 

1,377.653'    757,379,749 
3,960;992!    929,782,448 
2,078,562'    895,266,780 
2,090,8001    887,333,104 
8,476,160    890,159,872 

3,422,136,758  114,317,428'  149.388,547  654,445,696  1,699,357  17,984,167  4,359,921,953 
684,427,3511  22,863,4851  29,867,709  130,889,139,$  424,839!  3,596,833)    871,984,390 

*  Made  up  from  British  official  authorities.  The  commercial  year  in  England  begins 
January  1 ;  in  the  United  States,  July  1 ;  hence  seeming  discrepancies  in  figures  for  ap- 
parently the  same  period  of  time. 

t Egypt  includes  Turkey,  Syria,  and  the  Mediterranean  generally;  the  East  Indies 
include  British  India  generally ;  the  West  India  islands  belonging  to  Great  Britain,  and 
British  Guiana. 

J  Four  years. 

IV. —  Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cotton  im- 
ported into  France,  and  tlie  countries  whence  imported,  for  a  period  of 
jive  years,  from  1851  to  1855,  both  inclusive.* 


Years. 

Pound, 

5  of  cotton  imp< 

>rted  into  Fran< 

;e  from 

United  States. 

Elsewhere. 

All  countries. 

Value. 

1851              

127,418,053 

19,083.961 

146,402,014 

$21,204,000 

1852 

171,235,021 

t!7,742,078 

188,977,099 

27,528,000 

1853    

178,608,904 

19,537,722 

198,146,626 

28,830,000 

1854                  

174,929,557 

15,319,242 

190248,799 

27,900,000 

$1855 

652,191,535 

71,683,003 

723,774,538 

105,462,000 

Average  

163,047.884 

17,920,751 

180,943,635 

26,365,500 

*  Compiled  from  Tableau  General  du  Commerce  de  la  France. 
t  Of  which  amount  11,973,427  pounds  were  from  Egypt  and  Turkey,  and  930,516  pounds 
from  Brazil. 
%  No  data, 

V. —  Tabular  comparative  statement  sJiowing  the  quantities  of 
cotton  imported  into  Spain,  and  the  countries  whence  import- 
ed, for  a  period  of  five  years,  from  1851  to  1855,  both  in- 
clusive. 
The  statistical  office  has  no  official  Spanish  data  from  which 

to  make  up  the  statement  required. 


254        .  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

The  quantities  of  cotton  exported  from  the  United  States 
to  Spain,  according  to  United  States  Treasury  reports,  the 
years  specified,  were  as  follows : 

1851  .     .     .     34,272,625  Ibs.     1854    .     .     .     35,024,074  Ibs. 

1852  .     .       29,301,928    "        1855      .     .       33,071,795    « 
1853.     .     .     36,851,042    "        Avrg.  (5  yrs.)  33,704,292    " 

From  Cuba,  the  same  years,  according  to  "  Balanzas  Gene- 
rales"  of  that  Island,  the  quantities  exported  to  Spain  were 
as  follows : 

1851  ....       13,145  Ibs.     1854      .     .     .  1,489  Ibs. 

1852  .     .     .       300,225    "        1855    ....     No  data. 

1853  ....     138,625    "        Average  (4  yrs.)  113,438   " 

From  Porto  Rico,  according  to  official  Balanzas  of  that  island, 
as  follows  : 

1851  ....     315,083  Ibs.     1854      .     .     •       No  data. 

1852  .     .     .       141,807    "        1855    .          .     .     No  data. 

1853  ....     245,552   "        Average  (3  yrs.)  234,147  Ibs. 

From  Brazil,  according  to  the  "  Proposta  e  Rdatario"  of 
that  empire  for  the  years  1852-'3,  and  1853-' 4,  the  quantities 
of  cotton  exported  to  Spain  were  as  follows  : 

1852-'53, 2,291,578 

1853-'5£, 2,351,279 

Average,  (2  years) 2,321,428 

Spain,  according  to  the  "  Cuadro  General"  of  that  kingdom 
for  1849,  imported  that  year,  from  countries  of  production, 
26,136,881  Ibs.  of  cotton;  of  which  quantity  the  United  States 


TARIFF  DUTIES. 


255 


supplied  21,669,441   Ibs.,   Cuba  3,371,830   Ibs.,  Brazil   832,- 
604  Ibs.,  Porto  Rico  370,881  Ibs.  and  Venezuela  21,316  Ibs. 

VI. — Statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cotton  exported  by  Great  Britain 
to  all  countries,  respectively,  and  the  countries  whence  imported,  for  a 
period  of  jive  years,  from  1851  to  1855  both  inclusive.* 


Tears. 

Exported  to 
all  countries. 

Of  which  was  imported  from  — 

U.  States. 

Brazil. 

Egypt 

East  Indies. 

Elsewhere. 

1851 

Pounds. 
111,980,400 
111.875,456 
143,569,680 
125,554,800 
124,345,760 

Pounds. 
66,921,844 
69,217,120 

82,701,472 
55,101,200 
56,989,632 

Pound's. 
1,888,880 
3,619,840 
4,786,768 
1,438,192 
759,360 

Pounds. 
211,008 
124,656 
948,416 
869,600 
886,064 

Pounds. 
42,959,168 
38,864,672 
60,082,064 
63,645,808 
66,210,704 

Pounds. 

"49',i  68 
50,960 

1852  

1853 

1854  

1855  

Annual 
average. 

124,465,219 

66,186,153 

2,493,608 

407,948 

55,852,483 

. 

*  Compiled  from  the  monthly  "  Accounts  relating  to  Trade  and  Navigation,"  presented 
to  the  British  Parliament,  the  only  authority  at  hand  from  which  the  countries  whence 
the  cotton  exported  was  imported  could  be  ascertained.  Eesults  gathered  from  these 
monthly  accounts  sometimes  vary  from  those  given  in  the  "  Annual  Statement  of  the 
Trade  and  Navigation  of  the  United  Kingdom,"  from  which  latter  document  was  made 
up  the  table  that  follows. 


Countries  to  which 
exported. 

Pounds  of  cotton  exported  from  Great  Britain 
in  the  years  — 

Annual 
average. 

1851. 

1852. 

1853. 

1S54. 

35,185,472 
2,434,656 
1,576,064 
27,473,040 
22,119,104 
12,856,430 
1,365,504 
2,742,820 
1,366,064 
2,647,126 

45,605,840 
8,591,840 
674,240 
22,472,016 
15,834,224 
12,657,680 
2,225,440 
2,238,208 
1,957,088 
2,324,560 

48,937,892 
4,414,368 
1,143,296 
83,417,440 
28,676,592 
18,466,672 
2,403,968 
8,860,864 
8,830,288 
8,418,800 

208,544 
5,866,560 
23,444,624 
36,055,264 
26,934,544 
14,040,768 
2,759,232 
8,821,328 
4,811,856 
5,383,392 

32,484,312 
4,076,856 
6,709,556 
29,854,440 
23,391,116 
14,505,400 
2,183,536 
8,165,680 
2,991,324 
8,443,468 

Prussia        

Ilanse  Towns  
Holland.  

Belgium  .  .  • 

Sardinia  

Other  countries  
Aggregate  

109,765,824 

109,581,136 

148,569,680 

123,326,112 

122,810,688 

NOTE— No  data  for  the  year  1855. 


256 


COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 


VII. —  Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  and  declared 
values  of  cotton  manufactures  and  yarns  exported  from  Great  Britain 
and  from  theJJnited  States,  respectively,  to  all  countries  for  a  period  of 
five  years,  from  1851  to  1855,  both  inclusive.* 


Years. 

GEEAT  BKITAJU. 

tnOTED  STATES. 

Manufactures. 

Tarns. 

Manufactures. 

Tarns. 

Quantities. 

Values.t 

Quantities. 

Values. 

Quan's. 

Values. 

Quan's. 

Values. 

1851.. 
1852.. 
1853.. 
Is64.. 
1855.. 

A.*g'te 
Aver  . 

Ford*. 

1,543,161,789 
1,524,256,914 
1,594.592,659 
1.692,977,476 
1,935,846,937 

Dollars. 
110,246,010 
108,242,290 
119,509,700 
116,884,300 
130,623,375 

Pounds. 
143,966,106 
145,478,302 
147,539,302 
147,128,498 
165,499,547 

Dollars. 
33,246,010 
33,273,275 
34,478,265 
33,456,935 
86,152,140 

No 
data. 
..do.. 
..do.. 
..do.. 
..do.. 

Dollars. 
7,203.945 
7,637,433 
8,746,300 
5,486,201 
5,857,181 

No 
data. 
..do.. 
..do.. 
..do.. 
..do.. 

Doirs 
37,260 
34,7  IS 
22,594 
49,315 
None. 

8,290,835,775 
1.65S.167.155 

585,5f5,675'749,611,755  170,606,625 
117.101,115  149,922.£)1  1  34,121,825 

,34,931,060 

....   |  6,986,212 

::::: 

143.887 

23,777 

*  Made  up  from  British  and  United  States  official  documents,  respectively;  the  com- 
mercial year  of  the  former  ending  December  31,  and  of  the  latter  June  30. 
t  The  pound  sterling  is  computed  at  five  dollars. 


VIII. — General  information   respecting  the  cotton    trade   of 
the  United  States. 

GKEAT    BRITAIN. 

The  annual  average  importation  of  cotton  from  all  countries 
into  England,  the  last  five  years,  has  been  838,335,984  Ibs 
of  which  amounts,  according  to  British  authorities,  661,529, 
220  Ibs.,  or  more  than  three-fourths,  were  from  the  United 
States.  The  annual  average  exportation  to  the  continent 
and  elsewhere,  has  been  122,810,688  Ibs.,  or  about  one-sixth 
of  the  total  quantity  imported,  leaving  715,525,296  Ibs.  for 
the  annual  average!  consumption.  About  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  amount  imported  was  from  British  possessions. 


THE    COTTON   TRADE.  257 

In  1781  Great  Britain  commenced  the  reexportation  of 
cotton  to  the  continent  and  elsewhere.  In  1815  the  quantity 
thus  reexported  had  risen  from  the  annual  average  of 
1,000,000  Ibs.  to  that  of  6,000,000  Ibs.  In  1853  the  aggregate 
amount  exported  exceeded  148,500,000  Ibs.,  of  which  nearly 
83,000,000  Ibs.  were  derived  from  the  United  States,  and 
more  than  60,000,000  Ibs.  from  the  East  Indies.  The  quan- 
tity of  American  cotton  reexported  by  Great  Britain  to  the 
different  markets  of  Europe,  when  compared  with  the  quan- 
tities imported,  is  much  less  than  of  that  imported  from  other 
countries — a  fact  which  suggests  the  superiority  of  the  Ameri- 
can article,  and  its  better  adaptation  to  purposes  of  fabrile 
industry.  For  example,  about  one-tenth  of  the  cotton  im- 
ported from  the  United  States  is  reexported,  against  nearly 
one-half  of  that  imported  from  the  East  Indies.  A  comparison 
between  American  and  East  Indian  cotton  shows  a  difference 
of  100  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the  former ;  the  cotton  of  the  East 
Indies  containing  25  per  cent,  of  waste,  while  that  of  the 
United  States  contains  only  12J  per  cent.  The  fibre,  also, 
of  the  latter  excels  that  of  the  former. 

In  1788  the  efforts  of  the  East  India  Company  commenced 
for  the  promotion  of  the  growth  of  cotton,  and  for  the  improve- 
ment of  its  quality,  in  British  India ;  and  the  first  exporta- 
tion of  the  article  to  England  was  made  the  same  year.  In 
1814  the  exportation  amounted  to  4,000,000  Ibs. ;  it  now 
averages  165,000,000  Ibs.  per  annum.  An  area  of  about 
8,000  square  miles  is  said  to  be  devoted  to  the  culture. 

Liverpool  is  the  great  mart  of  the  cotton  trade  of  Great 
Britain,  and  of  Europe  generally.  Thus,  while  the  total  im- 
ports of  that  article  into  the  United  Kingdom,  according  to 
British  authorities,  in  1852,  amounted  to  2,337,338  bales,  the 
quantity  at  this  port  reached  2,205,738  bales.  About  six- 
sevenths  of  the  cotton  received  at  Liverpool  comes  from  the 


258  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

United  States ;  and  of  this  four-fifths  is  estimated  to  be  im- 
ported for  the  factories  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire. 

Since  March,  1845,  cotton  has  been  admitted  into  British 
ports  free  of  duty.  Prior  to  that  period  the  duty  was,  of  and 
from  British  possessions,  8  cents ;  from  other  places,  70  cents 
per  112  Ibs. 

The  number  of  spindles  in  operation  in  England  is  estimated 
at  more  than  twenty  millions. 

The  value  of  cotton  supplied  by  the  United  States  to  Great 
Britain  in  1855  was  $57,616,749,  being  about  the  average 
each  year  the  last  four. 

The  quantity  of  cotton  exported  from  the  United  States  to 
England,  in  eleven  months  of  the  fiscal  year  1856,  is  esti- 
mated at  2,755,000  bales. 

It  appears  from  4<  Commerce  and  Navigation,"  that  the  im- 
portation of  raw  cotton  from  the  British  West  Indies  into  the 
United  States  has  increased,  for  some  years  past,  in  a  ratio 
quite  proportional  to  the  decrease  of  such  importation  into 
Great  Britain.  Thus,  the  importations  of  cotton  into  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  respectively,  from  the  British  West 
Indies,  from  1851  to  1855,  inclusive,  were  as  follows : 

1851  Into  the  U.  S.     29,353  Ibs.     Gt.  Britain.  446,529  Ibs. 

1852  "  6,756  "  "  703,696    " 

1853  "  252,892  "  •  "  344,060    " 

1854  "  159,381  «  "  205,072    " 

1855  "  880,217  "  "  No  data. 

The  average  price  per  pound  of  cotton,  from  1851  to  1855, 
inclusive,  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  respectively, 
is  shown  as  follows : 


THE   COTTON   TRADE. 


259 


Average  Price  per  Pound. 

tS51  In  the  TJ.  S.  12-11  cents.  In  Gt.  Britain.*  12J  cents. 

1852  «  8-05     "  "  11£     « 

1853  "  9-85     " 

1854  "  9'47     "  " 

1855  "  8-74     "  «  12i     " 


124 

12f 


The  following  statement,  showing  the  quantities  of  cotton 
imported  into  Great  Britain,  and  the  countries  whence  im- 
ported, from  1840  to  1850,  is  given  to  illustrate  the  statement 
exhibiting  the  same  facts  from  1851  to  1855,  already  pre- 
sented (III)  in  answer  to  the  resolution.  The  figures  are  de- 
rived from  a  "  Statistical  Abstract  for  the  United  Kingdom  in 
each  year  from  1840  to  1853,  presented  to  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,  by  command  of  her  Majesty,'*  by  Mr.  Albany  W. 
Fonblanque,  superintendent  of  the  statistical  department  of 
the  Board  of  Trade: 


Pounds  of  cotton  imported  into  Great  Britain  from— 

Yre. 

U.  States. 

Brazil. 

Egypt. 

East  Indies. 

W.  Indies.  Elsewhere.  All  countries 

1840. 

487,856,504 

14,779,171 

8,324,937 

77,011,839 

866,157 

3,649,402 

592,448,010 

1841. 

358,240,964 

16,671,348 

9,097,180 

97,338,153 

1,533,197 

5,061,513 

487,992,355 

1842. 

414,030,779 

15,222,828 

4,489,017 

92,972,609 

593,603 

4,441,250 

531,750,086 

1843. 

574,738,520 

18,675,123 

9,674,076 

65,709,729 

1,260.444 

3,135,244 

673,193,116 

1844. 

517,218,622 

21,084,T44 

12,406,327 

88,639,776 

1,707,194 

5,054,641 

646,111,304 

1845 

626,650,412 

20,157,633 

14,614,699 

58,437,426 

1,394,447 

725,336 

721,979,953 

1846. 

401,949,393 

14,746,321 

14,278,447 

34,540,143 

1,201,857 

1,140,113 

467,856,274 

184T. 

364,599,291 

19,966,922 

4,814,268 

83,934,614 

793,933 

598,587 

474,7-07,615 

1848. 

600,247,488 

19,971,378 

7,231,861 

84,101,961 

640,437 

827,036 

713,020,161 

1849. 

634,504,050 

80,738,133 

17,369,843 

70,838,515 

944,807 

1,074,164 

755,469,012 

1860. 

493,153,112 

30,299,982 

18,931,414 

118,872,742 

228,913 

2,090,698 

663,576,861 

The  following  table  will  show  the  quantities  of  cotton  im- 
ported into  Great  Britain  in  1850  and  1851,  distinguishing 
that  from  foreign  countries,  and  that  from  the  possessions  of 
Great  Britain  : 


*  At  Manchester. 


260  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Pounds  of  cotton  imported  into  Great  Britain. 

From  foreign  countries:             In  1850.  In  1851. 

United  States,           .         .         .     493,153,112  596,638,962 

Brazil,           .         .         .         .           30,299,982  19,339,104 

Turkey,  Syria,  and  Egypt,       .       18,909,748  15,766,325 

Other  foreign  countries,         .             1,619,051  2,141,617 


Total  from  foreign  countries,     543,981,893         633,886,008 


British  possessions : 

East  Indies,      ....     118,872,742         122,626,976 
British  West  Indies  and  British 

Guiana,     ....  228,913  446,529 

Other  British  possessions,  .  493,313  420,236 


Total  from  Britishjpossessions,    119,594,968         123,493,741 
Total  from  foreign  countries,     543,981,893         633,886,008 


Total  of  cotton  imported,      .     663,576,861         757,379,749 

Tabular  comparative  statement  sJiowing  the  declared  value  of 
cotton  manufacturers  of  all  kinds  and  cotton  yarns  exported 
from  Great  Britain  from  1840  to  1850,  both  inclusive. 

1840  Manufactures,     $87,836,^50         Yarns,  $35,506,540 

1841  "  81,162,550  "  36,334,840 

1842  "  69,539,420  "  38,857,320 

1843  "  81,270,000  "  35,969,855 

1844  "  94,083,820  "  34,942,920 

1845  "  95,780,480  "  34,816,175 

1846  "  88,588,890  "  39,410,240 

1847  "  86,876,225  "  29,789,900 

1848  «'  83,766,845  "  29,639,155 

1849  "  100,355,230  "  33,520,445 

1850  "  109,368,485  "  31,918,520 


THE   COTTON  TRADE.  261 

FRANCE. 

Cotton  constitutes,  in  value,  more  tlian  two-thirds  of  the 
domestic  exports  of  the  United  States  to  France.  By  virtue 
of  the  treaty  of  1822,  it  is  imported,  like  all  other  "articles  of 
the  growth,  produce,  or  manufacture  of  the  United  States," 
on  the  same  terms,  whether  in  United  States  or  national  ves- 
sels ;  but  the  importation  must  be  direct,  and  the  origin  of  the 
article  duly  authenticated.  A  ministerial  decree  of  December 
17,  1851,  enlarges  the  provision  of  the  treaty  relative  to  the 
direct  voyage,  so  far  as  to  extend  the  equality  between  the 
vessels  of  the  two  nations  when  importing  cotton,  even  should 
the  American  vessel  touch  at  a  British  port ;  but,  in  that  case, 
the  captain  is  required  to  exhibit  a  certificate  from  the  French 
consul  at  that  port,  stating  that  no  commercial  transaction 
there  took  place. 

The  French  government  is  directing  its  efforts  to  the  de- 
velopment and  extension  of  the  cotton  culture  in  its  colonial 
province  of  Algeria.  To  that  end,  in  December,  1853,  an 
aggregate  value  of  20,000  francs,  in  prizes,  was  offered  by  the 
emperor  to  the  most  successful  cultivator  of  cotton  in  that 
province.  The  result  is  announced  as  most  favorable.  In  De- 
cember, 1854,  the  entire  sum  was  divided  between  three 
rivals,  whose  merits  were  judged  equal — two  of  them  being 
French  colonists,  and  one  an  Arab — a  gold  medal  to  each 
being  also  awarded.  To  the  meritorious  of  the  second  rank, 
a  silver  medal  to  each  was  presented.  The  amount  produced 
in  1854  was  180,552  Ibs. 

Next  to  Great  Britain,  France  is  the  largest  importer  of 
American  cotton;  and  what  Liverpool  is  to  the  former, 
Havre  is  to  the  latter.  At  those  two  points  the  importations 
are  concentrated,  and  thence  distributed  to  the  different"  mar- 
kets of  either  empire  or  reexported  to  foreign  countries 


26! 


COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 


The  reexportations  of  France  are  chiefly  to  Switzerland  by 
railway;  after  which  country,  in  this  trade,  come  Sardinia 
and  Holland ;  smaller  quantities  being  sent,  also,  to  Spain,  the 
Zollverein  and  other  countries. 

Next  to  the  United  States,  France  derives  her  supplies  of 
cotton  from  the  Levant ;  and  the  third  place  is  held  by  South 
America. 

These  facts  are  illustrated  by  the  following  statements,  made 
np  from  the  "  Tableau  General  du  Commerce  de  la  France," 
for  the  years  designated  :  [The  quantities  are  given  in  kilo- 
grammes, each  kilogramme  being  equal  to  about  21  Ibs.  Kilo- 
grammes multiplied  by  9  and  divided  by  4  will  give  pounds.] 


Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cot- 
ton imported  into  France,  and  the  countries  whence  imported, 
for  a  period  of  three  years,  from  1852  to  1855,  both  in- 
clusive. 

Kilogrammes  of  cotton  imported  into  France,  in  the  years — 


Countries  whence  imported. 

1852. 

1853. 

1853. 

United  States,    .     .     . 

76,104,454 

79'381,735 

77,746,470 

Egypt,    

4,382,575 

4,831,872 

3,601,327 

Turkey,     .     -     .     .     . 

1,027,836 

1,371,239 

375,834 

England,      .     .     .     . 

938,907 

890,322 

1,547,994 

Belgium,     

231,074 

603,449 

375,350 

413,563 

280,813 

127,912 

Peru,     ...... 

158,716 

233,838 

239,688 

Venezuela,  .... 

315,953 

169,686 

68,064 

Hayti,  . 

75,697 

104,510 

77,165 

East  Indies,      .     .     . 

47,955 

6,674 

188,649 

Elsewhere,     .... 

393,091 

191,029 

206,569 

Aggregate, 


83,989,822     88,065,167     84,555,022 


THE    COTTON   TRADE.  263 

Tabular  comparative  statement,  showing  the  quantities  of  cot- 
ton exported  by  France  to  all  countries,  respectively,  for  a 
period  of  three  years,  from  1852  to  1854,  both  inclusive, 
(  The  quantities  arc  given  in  kilogrammes,  as  in  the  preced- 
ing table.) 

Kilogrammes  of  cotton  exported  from  France  in  the  years — 
Countries  to  which  exported.  1852.  1853.  1854. 

•Switzerland, 7,029,667     7,929,099     6,657,003 

Netherlands,     ....          1,709,004        857,982        688,308 

Sardinia, 1,554,395        661,924        492,374 

Zollverein, 193,408        158,637        388,97 1 

Hanse  Towns,   ....  110,554        182,581          19,264 

Austria, 17,585         138,636        103,885 

England, 1,149,966        319,820          77,008 

Belgium, 75,711        123,061          63,704 

Spain 213,863          51,179          53,825 

Tuscany, 48,915          18,438  1,720 

Elsewhere, 74,018          30,483  6,493 


Aggregate,     ....       12,177,086    9,571,840     8,552,558 

Comparative  tabular  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cot- 
ton consumed  in  France,  and  the  countries  whence  imported, 
for  a  period  of  three  years,  from  1852  to  1854,  both  in 
elusive. 

Kilogrammes   of  cotton  consumed  in  France  in  the  years — 
Countries  whence  imported.,  1852.  1853.  1854. 

United  States,     .     .     .     66,740,104     70,220,752     67,452,50,° 

Egypt, 2,754,662       2,401,497       2,318.665 

Turkey, 979,313          744,331          571,511 

England,       ....  3,966  8,442          170,664 

Belgium, 231,074          561,066          395,176 

Brazil, 432,899          265,450          105,861 

Peru, 144,134          219,077          254,414 

Venezuela,        .     .     .  206,538          161,502  55,263 

Hayti 47,860  70,530  57,290 

East  Indies,     .     -     .  296,953          263,374  71,517 

Elsewhere,     ....          231,448          175,237          141,131 


Aggregate,      .     .     .     72,068,991     75,091,258     71,593,995 


264  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cotton 
which  passed  in  transit  through  France,  with  the  countries 
whence  it  came,  and  whither  it  went,  respectively,  distinguish- 
ing the  quantities  to  and  from  each,  for  the  period  of  three 
years,  from  1852  to  1854,  both  inclusive. 

Y  Countries  Quantities.         Countries  Quantities.^ 

whence.  Kilos.  whither.  Kilos. 

1852,  .  United  States,  5,060,457  Switzerland,     7,027,627 
"     .      England,    .     .  1,255,630  Sardinia,    .     .     364,315 
"        .  Egypt,    .     .     .  1,025,128  Zollverein,  .        196,979 
"     .      Elsewhere,     .  266,319  Elsewhere,     .       18,613 

Aggregate,  .  7,607,534       Aggregate,  .  7,607,534 

1853,  .  United  States,     4,800,328     Switzerland,     7,006,914 
"     .     England,    .     .        761,193     Sardinia,    .     .     197,115 

.  Egypt,    .     .     .  1,822,372     Zollverein,  .        192,779 
"     .     Elsewhere,     .          92,178     Belgium,    .     .       79,263* 


Aggregate,  .  7,476,071  Aggregate,  .  7,476,071 

1854,    .  United  States,     4,623,826  Switzerland,     6,601,925 

"     .      England,    .     .     1,402,372  Sardinia,    .     .     265,387 

.  Egypt,    .     .     .       884,750  Zollverein,    .       373,550 

"     .      Elsewhere,     .        386,693  Elsewhere,     .       56,779 


Aggregate,  .  7,297,641       Aggregate,  .  7,297,641 


SPAIN. 


This  kingdom  takes  from  the  United  States  about  four-fifths 
of  all  her  cotton ;   the  quantity,  during  the  last  five  years, 


THE    COTTON   TRADE.  265 

reaching  an  average  of  thirty -four  million  pounds  per  annum, 
and  showing  an  increase  on  the  five  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding. Next  to  the  United  States,  Spain  imports  cotton  from 
Brazil,  while  her  West  India  possessions  hold  a  third  rank  in 
the  trade. 

I-IANSE  TOWNS. 

The  states  of  Germany  are  supplied  with  the  cotton  con- 
sumed in  their  factories,  chiefly  through  the  Hanseatic  cities, 
Hamburg,  and  Bremen.  Bremen  sent  to  the  Zollverein,  in  1853, 
cotton,  imported  direct  from  the  United  States,  to  the  value 
of  $984,772  14;  and  to  Austria  to  the  value  of  $156,153  21. 
The  factories  of  Prussia  and  Saxony  are  numerous,  and  import 
not  only  the  raw  material  from  these  cities,  but  also  large 
quantities  of  yarns.  The  number  of  spindles  in  operation  in 
the  states  composing  the  Zollverein,  is  estimated  at  upwards 
of  1,000,000.  This  is,  doubtless,  an  under  estimate,  as  the 
industrial  enterprise  of  the  Zollverein  has  made  rapid  progress 
since  the  date  of  the  official  document  from  which  these  figures 
are  derived.  The  export  of  cotton  tissues  from  the  Zollve- 
rein, in  1853,  amounted  in  value  to  $2,394,497  34,  of  which 
amount  $2,075,299  68  in  value,  came  from  the  factories  of 
Saxony. 

The  Hanse  Towns,  from  geographical  position,  are,  and 
must  always  continue  to  be,  the  great  marts  from  which  raw 
material  of  all  descriptions  will  be  supplied  to  the  states  of  the 
Germanic  commercial  union.  Hence,  exports  of  American 
cotton  and  tobacco  to  these  points  are  heavy,  and  constantly 
increasing.  These  commercial  cities  receive  their  supplies  of 
raw  cotton  not  only  from  the  United  States,  in  direct  trade, 
as  well  as  from  Brazil  and  other  countries  of  South  America, 
but  also  in  the  indirect  trade  from  English  ports  and  other 
12 


266 

entrepots  of  Europe.  In  1855,  the  Zollverein  sent  through  the 
Hanse  ports  to  the  United  States,  cotton  fabrics  to  the  value 
of  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars,  in  return  for  the 
raw  material. 

BELGIUM. 

Most  of  the  cotton  imported  into  Belgium,  is  from  the  United 
States,  and  is  consumed  by  her  own  factories  at  Ghent,  Liege, 
Antwerp,  Malines,  (Mechlin,)  &c.,  &c.,  which  are  said  to  em- 
ploy a  capital  of  twelve  millions  dollars,  and  more  than  122,000 
operatives,  and  to  turn  out  an  annual  value  of  seventeen  mil- 
lions dollars  in  fabrics,  which  are  in  high  repute. 

The  "  Tableau  General"  of  Belgium,  for  1854,  gives  the  im- 
portation of  cotton  into  that  kingdom,  as  follows  : 

Statement  exhibiting  the  quantities  of  cotton  imported  into 
Belgium,  in  1854,  in  pounds : 

From  United  States,         .         .         .  15,329,266 

From  England,     ....  14,208,765 

From  Holland,          ....  2,733,259 

From  France,      ....  368,516 

From  Hanse  Towns,       .         .         .  79,668 

From  Hayti,       ....  73,055 

From  Brazil,            ....  19,991 

From  other  countries,           .         .  30,594 


Total,          ....      32,833,114 

Of  the  above  total,  25,783,292  Ibs.  was  consumed,  and 
7,049,823  Ibs.  exported. 

The  quantity  imported  by  land  and  rivers,  was  3,104,851 
Ibs. ;  by  sea,  29,729,263  Ibs. 

Of  the  quantity  exported,  6,959,965  Ibs.  was  by  land  and 
rivers,  and  89,858  Ibs.  by  sea — 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  267 

Prussia  receiving  (by  land  and  rivers)       .  5,628,186 

France         "                 "               "            .  842,881 

Holland       »                 «                "       .  488,898 

And  all  otlier  countries  receiving  (by  sea)  134,118 


Total  by  land  and  rivers  and  by  sea,     .     7,094,083 

The  cotton  thus  exported,  was  imported  as  follows : 

Pounds. 

From  United  States,  .         .         .     5,529,537 

From  England,      ....          1,488,582 
From  Holland,  ....          70,965 

From  France,  4,999 


Total,  ....     7,094,083 

The  average  annual  amount  of  duties  derived  by  Belgium 
from  cotton,  for  the  five  years  ending  with  1854,  was  upwards 
of  $40,000  ;  and,  in  the  latter  year,  it  ranked  the  thirteenth 
among  articles  imported,  in  this  regard.  The  duty,  under  the 
law  of  January  31,  1852,  was  1  franc  70  centimes  per  220  Ibs. 
By  the  law  of  April  12,  1854,  cotton  became  free. 

In  1854,  Belgium  exported  cotton  fabrics  in  value  as  fol- 
lows: 

Value  of  total  exports  of  cotton  fabrics,         .,     $4,701,572 

Value  of  total  exports  of  Belgian  manufacture,     2,632,586 


Value  of  total  foreign  manufactures  reexported,     $2,068,986 

SAKDINIA. 

Sardinia  imports,  on  an  average,  some  four  or  five  millions 
pounds  of  cotton  each  year  from  England  and  France,  and 

*  This  is  an  excess  of  44,260  Ibs.  over  the  amount  given  above  as  ex- 
ported, that  quantity  haying  been  entered  for  consumption  but  subsequently 
withdrawn. 


268  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

about  the  same  quantity  from  the  United  States  ;  although,  in 
1855,  the  importation  from  the  latter  country  suddenly  rose 
from  1,645,372  Ibs.  the  preceding  year,  to  14,777,765  Ibs. ! 
There  seems  no  sufficient  reason  why  American  vessels  should 
not  convey  the  whole  quantity  required  by  Sardinia,  directly 
to  Genoa,  as  well  as  for  English  or  French  vessels  to  carry 
thither  a  portion  of  American  cargoes  landed  at  Liverpool  or 
Havre.  A  similar  remark  is  applicable  to  the  other  ports  of 
Italy,  and  to  those  of  Austria  on  the  Adriatic ;  and  the  enter- 
prise of  establishing  lines  of  ocean  steamers  between  ports  of 
the  United  States  and  those  of  the  Mediterranean,  will,  if  suc- 
cessful, tend  greatly  to  encourage,  if  not  to  secure,  such  direct 
importation. 

SWITZERLAND. 

Four-fifths  of  all  the  cotton  consumed  by  the  factories  of 
Switzerland,  is  estimated  to  be  imported  at  Havre,  whence  it 
passes  through  France  by  railway,  being  burdened  with  heavy 
charges  in  the  transit.  In  1833,  the  quantity  thus  received 
amounted  to  nearly  6,000,000  Ibs.  In  1843,  it  had  reached 
nearly  17,000,000  Ibs.  The  entire  receipt  of  cotton  in  1843, 
was  22,000,000  Ibs.  In  1851,  it  amounted  to  27,035,725  Ibs., 
of  which  13,729,320  Ibs.  were  from  the  United  States.  In 
1852,  Switzerland  received  through  France,  15,816,775  Ibs.; 
in  1853,  15,815,473  Ibs. ;  and  in  1854,  14,978,257  Ibs.,  accord- 
ing to  the  "  Tableau  General"  of  France,  for  those  years. 

Imports  from  the  United  States  into  Switzerland,  are  made, 
for  the  most  part,  through  the  customs  frontiers  of  Berne, 
Basle,  Soleure,  and  Argovie,  bordering  on  France  and  the 
southern  part  of  Germany. 

A  severe  restriction  on  the  importation  of  cotton,  and  also 
of  tobacco,  to  Switzerland,  as  well  as  on  the  reception  by  the 
United  States  of  Swiss  wares  and  manufactures  in  return,  is 


THE   COTTON  TRADE.  269 

the  vexatious  and  expensive  transitage,  especially  through 
France.  The  oppression  of  this  system  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that  the  annual  average  aggregate  value  of  merchan- 
dize on  which  transit  tolls  are  paid,  proceeding  from  Switzer- 
land, is  (1853)  nearly  thirty  millions  dollars  ;  and  the  value  of 
that  proceeding  to  that  republic,  more  than  half  as  much. 

Switzerland  sent,  in  transitu  to  France,  cotton  tissues  to  the 
value  of  nearly  three  millions  dollars  in  1852  ;  and  to  the  value 
of  nearly  four  millions,  in  1853.  By  the  French  tariff,  such 
fabrics  are  excluded  from  France  for  consumption.  Since  1845, 
Switzerland  is  stated,  officially,  to  have  quite  superseded  in  the 
markets  of  Germany  and  Austria,  the  yarns  of  Great  Britain. 
In  1830,  that  republic  had  in  operation  400,000  spindles  ;  in 
1840,750,000;  and  in  1850,  950,000;  the  number  having  more 
than  doubled  in  twenty  years. 

According  to  Swiss  official  custom-house  reports,  that  re- 
public received  cotton  from  the  United  States  as  follows,  the 

years  specified : 

Pounds. 
1850, 15,942,740 

1851, 13,729,320 

1852, 19,065,200 

1853, 18,441,830 

In  return,  cotton  stuffs,  as  follows,  were  sent 
to  the  United  States  : 

1850, 3,226,300 

1851,      3,509,660 

1852, 4,077,920 

1853,      ....  5,265,150 

In  1855,  Switzerland  returned  to  the  United  States,  in  ex- 
change for  raw  cotton,  the  same  article  manufactured,  to  the 
value  of  $212,700. 


270  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

RUSSIA. 

Before  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  the  manfacture  of 
cotton  in  the  Russian  empire  was  progressing  with  extraordi- 
nary activity.  The  number  of  spindles  exceeded  350,000, 
producing,  annually,  upwards  of  10,800,000  Ibs.  of  cotton 
yarns.  The  barter  trade  with  the  Chinese,  at  Kiachta,  stimu- 
lates this  branch  of  manufacture  in  Russia,  as  the  article  of 
cotton  velvets  constitutes  the  leading  staple  of  exchange,  at 
that  point,  for  the  teas  and  other  merchandise  of  China.  In 
former  years  this  article  was  supplied  almost  exclusively  by 
Great  Britain  ;  but  the  Chinese  prefer  the  Russian  manufac- 
ture, and  hence  the  steady  progress  of  that  branch  of  industry 
Thus  the  annually  increasing  importations  of  the  raw  mate- 
rial, and  consequent  diminution  in  the  quantities  of  cotton 
yarns  imported  is  accounted  for.  Were  raw  cotton  admitted, 
as  in  England,  free  of  duty,  the  United  States  would,  most 
probably,  supply,  in  the  direct  trade,  the  whole  quantity  con- 
sumed in  that  empire.  As  it  is,  the  commercial  reforms  in 
Russia,  already  announced  officially,  and  now  in  progress, 
comprehending,  as  they  do,  the  establishment  of  American 
houses  at  St.  Petersburg,  must  necessarily  tend  to  that  result. 

There  are,  at  present,  in  Russia,  or  there  were,  previously 
to  the  war,  495  cotton  factories,  employing  112,427  operatives, 
and  producing,  annually,  40,907,736  Ibs.  of  yarns,  and  corres- 
ponding amounts  of  textiles. 

SWEDEN. 

The  importation  of  cotton  in  1851,  according  to  Swedish 
official  authorities,  amounted  to  7,989,428  Ibs.,  against  1,832,- 
431  Ibs.  in  1841,  and  794,434  Ibs.  in  1831.  In  1843  these 
authorities  show  an  importation  of  2,600,000  Ibs.,  against 
9,888,572  Ibs.  in  1853 ;  which  latter  amount  exceeded  that 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  271 

of  the  importation  of  1852  by  1,247,041  Ibs.,  and  that  of 
1850  by  more  than  5,200,000  Ibs.  being  the  largest  of  any 
preceding  year.  In  1848  the  amount  was  8,074,020  Ibs. 

The  value  of  cotton  manufactures  exported  from  Sweden  in 
1850  was  $46,000,  against  $7,500,  only,  in  1851. 

PORTUGAL. 

This  kingdom  imported  1,911,451  Ibs.  of  cotton  in  1855,  of 
which  quantity  144,006  Ibs.  were  exported  from  the  United 
States,  and  the  residue  from  Brazil.  In  1853-'54,  according 
to  Brazilian  official  reports,  Portugal  received  thence  2,673,766 
Ibs.  of  cotton.  Her  imports  of  yarn  in  1855  were  1,213,157 
Ibs.,  valued  at  $171,817  07,  and  paying  an  aggregate  of 
duties  of  $61,142  84. 

BRAZIL. 

The  exportations  of  cotton  from  Brazil  in  1843-'44  and 
1853-'54  are  stated,  by  Brazilian  official  authorities,  as  follows : 

1853-'54 28,420,320  Ibs. 

1843-'44,  .....     26,056,160    " 


Increase  in  ten  years,      .         .         .  2,364,160 

In  1852-'53,  the  exportation  amounted  to  31,933,050  Ibs., 
of  which  quantity  Great  Britain  received  26,881,201  Ibs., 
Spain  2,291,578  Ibs.,  Portugal  1,896,286  Ibs.,  and  France 
889,048  Ibs. 

Of  the  total  exportations  in  1853-'54,  Great  Britain  received 
22,575,122  Ibs.,  Spain  2,351,279  Ibs.,  Portugal  2,673,766  Ibs., 
and  France  543,611  Ibs. 

Exports  from  Brazil  to  England  began  in  1781. 

There  are  insuperable  drawbacks  to  the  extension  of  the 
cotton  culture  in  Brazil,  among  which  may  be  reckoned  the 


272  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

ravages  of  insects,  the  peculiarities  of  the  climate,  and  the 
expense  and  difficulties  attendant  upon  its  transmission  from 
the  interior  to  the  coast.  It  has  long  since  been  ascertained 
in  Brazil  that  the  cotton  plant  will  not  flourish  near  to  the 
sea,  and  the  plantations  have,  in  consequence,  receded  farther 
inland,  as  well  to  avoid  this  difficulty  as  to  seek  new  and  fresh 
lands.  Pernanibuco  is  the  principal  cotton-growing  province 
of  Brazil.  The  exports  from  that  province  were,  according  to 
Brazilian  authorities,  in — 

BALES,  160  LBS.  EA.  BALES,    160   LBS.  EA. 

1828,     .     .     .     70,785  1840,     .     .     .     35,849 

1830,     .     .     .     61,151  1842,     .     .     .     21,357 

1835,     .     .     .     52,142  1845,     .     .     .     26,562 

EGYPT. 

The  cotton  culture  in  Egypt  commenced  in  1818,  and  ex- 
portation to  England  in  1823. 

The  comparative  tabular  statement  subjoined,  derived  from 
Egyptian  sources,  showing  the  quantities  exported  at  the  port 
of  Alexandria,  and  the  countries  to  which  exported,  respect- 
ively, for  a  period  of  three  years,  from  1853  to  1855,  both 
inclusive,  would  indicate  an  increase  in  the  culture  by  no 
means  rapid  in  successive  years  : 

Pounds  of  Cotton  exported  to — 

YEARS.         GREAT  BRITAIN.  FRANCE.  AUSTRIA.  ELSEWHERE.      ALL   COUNTRIES. 

1853,  26,439,900  10,726,500   6,321,000   397,800   43,885,200 

1854,  24,938,700   7,454,100  10,165,200   988,500   43.546,500 

1855,  33,980,100   9.451,200  12,774,900   668.100   56,874,300 


Agg.,  85,358,700  27,631,800  29,261,100  2,054,400  144,306,000 
Av.,   28,452,900   9,210,600   9,753,700   684,800   48,102,000 


THE   COTTON   TRADE.  273 

If  to  the  aggregate  exported  be  added  from  five  to  six  mil- 
lion pounds  worked  up  in  the  country,  a  liberal  estimate  of 
the  annual  amount  of  the  cotton  crops  of  Egypt  will  have  been 
made.  The  factories  established  by  Mehemet  Ali  are,  it  is 
stated,  going  rapidly  to  ruin.  The  cotton  goods  manufactured 
are  coarse  "  caftas"  or  soldier's  "  nizam"  uniform.  Much  cot- 
ton is  used  also,  in  making  up  divans,  the  usual  furniture  in 
Egypt.  The  Egyptian  bale  is  estimated  at  Alexandria  at 
300  Ibs.  The  United  States  consul-general  at  that  port,  in  a 
dispatch  dated  the  1st  instant,  from  which  are  derived  the 
above  facts,  says :  "  The  new  crop  is  now  coming  in,  and  is 
supposed  to  be  a  little  above  the  average." 

CAPACITY  OF  THE  COTTON  BALE. 

The  commercial  standard  of  quantity  in  the  cotton  trade  is 
generally  the  bale.  The  weight  of  the  bale,  however,  is  by 
no  means  uniform.  Indeed,  scarcely  any  weight,  measure,  or 
standard  of  capacity  may  be  considered  less  so.  It  varies,  from 
different  causes,  in  different  countries,  and  in  different  sections 
of  the  same  country,  at  different  periods,  and  according  to  the 
different  kinds  or  qualities  of  the  article.  Improvements  in 
pressing  and  packing,  to  diminish  expense  in  bagging  and 
freight,  tend  constantly  to  augment  the  weight  of  the  bale.  Thus, 
in  1790,  the  United  States  bale  was  computed  at  only  200  Ibs. 
In  1824  the  average  weight  of  bales  imported  into  Liverpool 
was  266  Ibs. ;  but,  increasing  constantly,  twelve  years  later 
the  average  was  319  Ibs.  McCulloch,  however,  in  1832,  con- 
sidered 300  to  310  Ibs.  a  fair  average  ;  and  Burns  310.  At 
the  same  time,  the  upland  cotton  bale  was  estimate  at  320  Ibs., 
and  the  sea  island  at  280  Ibs.  According  to  Pitkins,  the 
Egyptian  bale  weighed  at  one  time  but  90  Ibs.,  though  it  now 
weighs  more  than  three  times  as  many.  At  the  same  period 
12* 


274  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

the  Brazilian  bale  contained  180  Ibs.,  though  it  now  contains 
but  160  Ibs.,  while  the  West  Indian  bale  weighed  350  Ibs., 
and  the  Columbian  bale  101  Ibs.,  or  the  Spanish  quintal. 
According  to  Burns,  the  United  States  bale  at  Liverpool  aver- 
aged 345  Ibs.;  the  Brazilian  180  Ibs.;  the  Egyptian  220  Ibs.; 
the  West  Indian  300  Ibs.,  and  the  East  Indian  330  Ibs.  At 
the  Lowell  factories,  in  1831,  according  to  Pitkins,  the  bale 
averaged  361  Ibs.  In  1836  the  bale  of  the  Atlantic  cotton 
States  was  estimated  at  300  and  325  Ibs.,  and  that  of  the  Gulf 
States  at  400  and  450  Ibs.  In  Liverpool,  at  the  same  time, 
the  estimate  for  the  bale  of  upland  or  short  staple  cotton  was 

321  Ibs. ;  for  Orleans  and  Alabama   402  Ibs. ;  for  sea  island 

322  Ibs. ;  for  Brazil  173  Ibs. ;  for  Egyptian  218  Ibs. ;  for  East 
Indian  360  Ibs.,  and  for  West  Indian  230  Ibs. ;  while,  accord- 
ing to  Burns,  bales  imported  into  France  were   computed  at 
only  200  Ibs.  each.     Waterton's  "  Manual  of  Commerce^  a 
reliable  British  publication,  (1855,)  gives  the  Virginia,  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  and  West  Indian  bale  at  300  to  310  Ibs.;  that 
of  New  Orleans  and  Alabama  at  400  to  500  Ibs. ;  East  Indies 
at  320  to  360  Ibs. ;  Brazil  at  160  to  200  Ibs.  Egyptian  at  180 
to   280  Ibs.     Alexander's   "  Universal  Dictionary  of  Weights 
and  Measures"  gives  the  bale  of  Alabama,  Louisiana  and  Mis- 
sissippi at  500  Ibs. ;  that  of  Georgia  at  375  Ibs.,  and  that  of 
South  Carolina  at  362  Ibs.     At  Rio  de  Janeiro  the  Brazil  bale 
is  estimated  at  160  Ibs. 

Prior  to  1855,  the  United  States  "  Commerce  and  Naviga- 
tion" gave  exports  of  cotton  in  pounds  only.  They  are  now 
given  in  bales  as  well  as  in  pounds,  the  aggregate  amount  for 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1855,  being  2,303,403  bales,  or  1,008,- 
424,601  Ibs.;  the  bale,  accordingly,  averaging  about  438  Ibs. 
Some  bales,  however,  are  evidently  much  heavier  and  some 
much  lighter  than  this.  For  example,  the  210,113,809  Ibs 
of  cotton  exported  to  France  give  446  Ibs.  to  each  of  the 


THE    COTTON   TRADE.  275 

470,293  bales;  and  the  955,114  Ibs.  exported  to  Austria  give 
492  Ibs.  to  each  of  the  1,939  bales ;  while  the  7,527,079  Ibs. 
exported  to  Mexico  give  only  290  Ibs.  to  each  of  the  25,917 
bales  in  which  they  were  contained. 

The  relative  average  weights  and  cubical  contents  of  bales 
of  cotton  imported  into  Liverpool  in  1852  are  thus  given : 


Descrip.  of  balcfe.     ' 

A.V.  wt.  Con.  in    TA        •       r\.  i         A.V.  wt. 

iVi           Vv  ft-     JJcscrip.  oi  bales.       •    11 

Con.  in 
cub.  ft. 

Mobile,     .     .     . 

504 

33 

East  Indian, 

.     383 

15 

New  Orleans,  . 

455 

32 

Egyptian,  . 

245 

27 

Upland,      .     . 

390 

27 

West  Indian, 

.     212 

25 

Sea  Island,  .     . 

333 

35 

Brazilian,    . 

182 

17 

These  figures  show  not  only  the  great  variety  of  bales  that 
enter  Liverpool,  but  that  the  most  eligible  form  of  bale  is 
that  of  the  East  Indies — double  the  weight  being  packed 
within  the  same  compass  as  in  any  other  description  of  bale. 

In  the  great  cotton  marts  of  Liverpool  and  Havre,  as  in 
those  of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  the  article  is  almost  in- 
variably treated  of  by  merchants,  brokers,  and  commercial 
men,  by  the  bale.  Thus,  a  report  on  the  trade  of  Liverpool 
gives  the  imports  of  cotton  into  Great  Britain,  in  1852,  at 
2,357,338  bales.  The  aggregate  of  cotton  imported  that  year 
is  given  in  the  official  report  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  at 
929,782,448  Ibs. ;  the  bales  averaging,  accordingly,  395  Ibs. 
each. 

The  annual  commercial  "  Revue"  of  Havre,  gives  the  num- 
ber of  bales  of  cotton  imported  into  France,  the  same  year 
(1852)  at  462,300  in  round  numbers.  The  "  Tableau  General" 
gives  the  imports  at  188,917,099  Ibs. ;  the  bales  averaging, 
accordingly,  about  409  Ibs.  each. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  Havre  commercial 
"  Revue"  (1855,)  referred  to,  shows  the  quantities  of  cotton, 


276 


COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 


in  bales,  imported  into  France,  and  the  countries  whence  im- 
ported, for  a  period  of  five  years,  from  1851  to  1855,  both  in- 
clusive : 


UMTED   STATES. 


1851 

295,400 

7,700 

18,500 

38,000 

1852 

392,700 

6,000 

36,700 

26,900 

1853 

389,000 

2,800 

33,000 

29,200 

1854 

403,300 

2,000 

21,400 

16,300 

1855 

418,600 

2,500 

30,700 

11,800 

ELSEWHERE.       ALL  COUNTEIB3. 

359,600 
462,300 
454,000 
470,000 
463,000 

Estimating  the  bale  at  400  Ibs.,  we  have  the  following  state- 
ment, some  of  the  figures  of  which,  contrasted  with  those  de- 
rived from  official  sources  in  the  statement  already  given, 
(III,)  present  striking  discrepancies. 

Tabular  comparative  statement  showing  the  quantities  of  cot- 
ton, in  round  numbers,  imported  into  France,  and  the  coun- 
tries whence  imported,  for  a  period  of  Jive  years,  from  1851 
to  1855,  both  inclusive,  the  bale  being  estimated  at  400  Ibs. 


Pounds  of  cotton  imported  into  France  from — 


UNITED  STATES. 


ELSEWHERE.         ALT,  COUNTRIES . 


1851,  . 
1852, 
1853,  . 
1854, 
1855,  . 


118,160,000  3,080,000  7,400,000  15,200,000  143,840,000 

157,080,000  2,400,000  14,680,000  10,760,000  104,920,000 

155,600,000  1,120,000  13,200,000  11,680,000  181,600,000 

172,120,000  800,000  8,560,000  6,520,000  188,000,000 

167,440,000  1,000,000  12,280,000  4,720,000  185,440,000 


Aggregate,  770,400,000    8,400,000    56,120,000    48,880,000    803,800,000 
verage,      154,080,000    1,680,000    11,224,000      9,776,000    160,760,000 

NOTE — Marked  discrepancies  are  perceived  in  statements  of  the  same 
statistical  facts,  for  the  same  periods,  derived  from  official  data  of  different 
countries.  Although  some  such  discrepancies  may  be  rather  apparent  than 
real,  and  attributable  to  variations  in  the  terminations  of  commercial  years, 
while  for  others  various  causes,  more  or  less  satisfactory,  may  be  assigned, 
it  still  remains  a  vain  task  to  attempt  the  entire  reconciliation  of  theee  sta- 
tistical conflicts. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HISTORY  OF  COTTON,  AND  THE  COTTON  GIN. 


SECTION   I. — BRIEF   HISTORY   OF    COTTON. 

COTTON,  which  administers  so  bountifully  to  the  wants  of 
civilized  as  well  as  to  savage  man,  and  to  the  wealth  and 
economy  of  the  countries  producing  it,  stands  foremost  among 
the  crops  in  the  United  States,  both  as  regards  its  superior 
staple  and  the  degree  of  perfection  to  which  its  cultivation  has 
been  brought.  One  or  more  of  its  species  is  found  growing 
wild  throughout  the  torrid  zone,  whence  it  has  been  dissemi- 
nated and  become  an  important  object  of  culture  in  several 
countries  adjacent,  where  its  consumption  has  increased  just 
in  proportion  to  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  civilization.  It 
is  mentioned  by  Herodotus  as  growing  in  India,  where  the 
natives  manufactured  it  into  cloth;  by  Theophrastus,  as  a 
product  of  Ethiopia;  and  by  Pliny,  as  growing  in  Egypt, 
towards  Arabia,  and  near  the  borders  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Nienhoff,  who  visited  China  in  1655,  says  that  it  was  then  cul- 
tivated in  great  abundance  in  that  country,  where  the  seed  had 
been  introduced  about  five  hundred  years  before.  Columbus 
found  it  in  use  by  the  American  Indians  of  Cuba,  in  1492 ; 
Cortez,  by  those  of  Mexico,  in  1519 ;  Pizarro  and  Almagro, 
by  the  Incas  of  Peru,  in  1532;  and  Cabec,a  de  Vaca,  by  the 
natives  of  Texas  and  California,  in  1536. 

[2TT] 


278  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

Of  tlie  precise  period  of  the  first  introduction  of  the  cotton 
plant  into  the  North  American  colonies,  history  is  silent.  In 
a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Nova  Brittania,  offering  most  excellent 
fruits  by  planting  in  Virginia,"  published  in  London  in  1609, 
it  is  stated  that  cotton  would  grow  as  well  in  that  province  as 
in  Italy.  It  is  also  stated,  on  the  authority  of  Beverley,  in 
his  "  History  of  Virginia,"  that  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  while 
governor  of  the  colony,  in  1692,  "  gave  particular  marks  of  his 
favor  towards  the  propagating  of  cotton ;  which,  since  his  time, 
has  been  much  neglected."  It  further  appears  that  it  was 
cultivated  for  a  long  time  in  the  eastern  parts  of  Maryland, 
Virginia,  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  in  the  garden,  though  not  at 
all  as  a  planter's  crop,  for  domestic  consumption. 

In  another  pamphlet,  entitled  "  A  state  of  the  province  of 
Georgia,  attested  upon  oath  in  the  court  of  Savannah,"  in  1740, 
it  was  averred  that  "  large  quantities  have  been  raised,  and  it 
is  much  planted ;  but  the  cotton,  which  in  some  parts  is  peren- 
nial, dies  here  in  the  winter ;  which,  nevertheless,  the  annual 
is  not  inferior  to  in  goodness,  but  requires  more  trouble  in 
.cleansing  from  the  seed."  About  the  year  1742,  M.  Dubreuil 
invented  a  cotton  gin,  which  created  an  epoch  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  this  product  in  Louisiana.  During  the  Revolution,  the 
inhabitants  of  St.  Mary's  and  Talbot  counties,  in  Maryland,  as 
well  as  those  of  Cape  May  county,  New  Jersey,  raised  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  cotton  to  meet  their  wants  for  the  time.  It 
was  formerly  produced  in  small  quantities,  for  family  use,  in 
the  county  of  Sussex,  in  Delaware,  near  the  head  waters  of 
the  Choptank. 

The  seed  of  the  Sea  Island  cotton  was  originally  obtained 
from  the  Bahama  Islands,  in  about  the  year  1785 ;  being  the 
kind  then  known  in  the  West  Indies  as  the  "  Anguilla  cotton." 
It  was  first  cultivated  by  Josiah  Tatnall  and  Nicholas  Turn- 
bull,  on  Skidaway  Island,  near  Savannah ;  and  subsequently 


BRIEF  HISTORY  OF   COTTOX.  279 

by  James  Spaulding  and  Alexander  Bisset,  on  St.  Simon's 
Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Altamaha,  and  on  Jekyl  Island  by 
Richard  Leake.  For  many  years  after  its  introduction,  it  was 
confined  to  the  more  elevated  parts  of  these  islands,  bathed  by 
the  saline  atmosphere,  and  surrounded  by  the  sea.  Gradually, 
however,  the  cotton  culture  was  extended  to  the  lower  grounds, 
and  beyond  the  limits  of  the  islands  to  the  adjacent  shores  of 
the  continent,  into  soils  containing  a  mixture  of  clay  ;  and, 
lastly,  into  coarse  clays  deposited  along  the  great  rivers,  where 
they  meet  the  ocean  tides. 

Previous  to  1794 — the  year  after  the  invention  of  Whitney's 
saw-gin — the  annual  amount  of  cotton  produced  in  North 
America  was  comparatively  inconsiderable;  but  since  that 
period,  there  is  probably  nothing  recorded  in  the  history  of 
industry,  including  its  manufactures  in  this  country  and  Europe, 
that  would  compare  with  its  subsequent  increase. 

The  earliest  record  cf  sending  cotton  from  this  country  to 
Europe,  is  in  the  table  of  exports  from  Charleston  in  1747-'4S, 
when  seven  bags  were  shipped ;  another  parcel,  consisting  of 
2,000  Ibs.,  was  shipped  from  the  same  port  in  1770 ;.  and  a 
third  shipment  of  seventy-one  bags  was  made  in  1784,  which 
was  seized  in  England  on  the  ground  that  America  could  not 
produce  a  quantity  so  great.  In  1792,  thiere  were  shipped 
304  bales;  in  the  first  six  months  of  1796,  150  bales.  From 
an  old  custom-house  book  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  it 
appears  that  in  July,  1768,  the  ship  "Amelia"  cleared  from 
that  port  with  an  assorted  cargo,  among  which  were  three  bags 
of  cotton.  In  1796,  there  were  exported  from  Philadelphia 
911,325  Ibs. 

The  amount  of  cotton  exported  from  the  United  States  in  1791, 
was  189,316  Ibs.;  in  1793, 187,600  Ibs.;  in  1794,  l,601,760lbs.-; 
in  1795,  6,276,300  Ibs: ;  in  1800,  17,789,803  Ibs. ;  in  1810, 
93,261,462  Ibs.— \Patcnt  Office  Report  for  1853,  Agricultural 
Dept.,  p.  179.] 


280  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 


From  the  Southern  Agriculturist. 

SECTION   II. — ON   THE    COTTON   GIN,  AND   THE   INTRODUCTION 
OF    COTTON. 

Answers  to  queries  of  Hon.  W.  B.  Seabrook  of  Edisto,  S.  C., 
by  Thomas  Spaldijig,  Esq.,  of  Sapelo,  Ga. 

SAPELO  ISLAND,  January  20th,  1844. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Your  letter  of  the  10th  instant  was  received 
two  days  ago,  and  I  was  gratified  at  the  communication,  as  I 
have  long  wished  to  be  personally  acquainted  with  some  of 
the  gentlemen  of  your  immediate  district ;  your  pursuits,  your 
habits,  and  your  opinions,  appearing  to  be  in  accordance  with 
my  own  ;  and  nothing  but  the  continued  pressure  of  a  painful 
disease,  of  now  ten  years'  standing,  has  prevented  me  carrying 
out  my  design,  by  visiting  you. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  answer  your  queries,  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  placed  ;  only  begging  you  to  remember,  if  you 
notice  any  indistinctness  in  my  answers,  that  I  have  only  a 
few  days  since  recovered  from  a  very  severe  illness  which 
prostrated  both  body  and  mind. 

1st.  Eve's  Gin  was  invented  by  Joseph  Eve,  who  lately  died 
at  Augusta,  somewhere  about  the  year  1790,  in  the  Bahama 
Islands,  where  Mr.  Eve  then  resided. 

Mr.  Eve  was  the  son  of  a  Loyalist  from  Pennsylvania,  who 
had  been  the  friend  of  Franklin  ;  and  Joseph  Eve  was  himself 
qualified  to  have  been  the  associate  and  companion  of  Frank 
lin,  or  any  other;  the  most  enlightened  man  I  have  ever 
known.  His  gin  consists  of  two  pair  of  rollers,  more  tban 
three  feet  long,  placed  the  one  set  over  the  other,  upon  a  solid 
frame  that  stands  upon  the  floor,  inclined  at  an  angle  of  about 


ON  THE   COTTON  GIN.  281 

thirty  degrees — so  that  the  feeder  may  the  more  easily  throw 
the  cotton  in  the  seed  by  the  handful  upon  a  wire  grating  that 
projects  two  inches  in  advance  of  the  rollers,  just  below  them  ; 
between  these  projecting  wires,  the  feeding-boards,  with 
strong  iron,  or  in  preference,  brass  teeth  pass,  lifting  the  cotton 
from  the  wire  grating,  and  offering  it  to  the  revolving  rollers. 
The  feeders  should  make  one  revolution  to  every  four  revolu- 
tions of  the  rollers.  The  rollers  are  carried  forward  by  wheels 
supported  over  the  gin,  and  upon  the  axle  or  shaft  of  these 
rollers  ;  at  the  center  there  is  a  crank  similar  to  a  saw-mil] 
crank,  the  diameter  of  whose  revolvement  is  as  one  to  four  ot 
the  diameter  of  the  wheels,  carrying  by  bands  the  rollers. 

It  is  the  crimping  produced  by  the  teeth  and  the  wire  grat- 
ing, which  has  served  as  a  cause  for  carping  by  the  cotton- 
buyers,  and  which  has  gradually  led  to  the  disuse  of  these 
gins,  the  only  gin  efficient  for  the  cleaning  of  long  cotton, 
which  has  ever  been  used  in  this  or  any  other  country.  With 
Mr.  Eve's  gin,  as  originally  sent  to  this  country  from  the 
Bahamas,  the  rollers  were  five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
made  of  stopper  wood,  a  very  hard  and  tough  wood,  and  they 
were  graduated  to  make  four  hundred  and  eighty  to  five  hun- 
dred revolutions  per  minute,  depending  of  course  upon  the  gait 
of  the  horses  or  mules,  within  these  limits.  Soon  after  Mr. 
Eve  first  sent  his  gins  to  Georgia,  some  of  his  own  workmen 
followed  them,  and  began  to  make  them  on  their  own  account. 
To  show  as  much  change  as  possible  in  the  gins,  beside  the 
other  alterations,  they  increased  the  size  of  the  rollers,  they 
increased  the  size  of  the  rollers  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch, 
and  increased  its  velocity  to  six  hundred  times  in  the  minute. 
These  two  changes,  while  they  greatly  increased  the  quantity 
ginned,  very  much  injured  the  appearance  of  the  ginned  cot- 
ton. Mr.  Eve  had  expected  and  guaranteed  to  the  purchasers 
of  his  gins  when  well  attended,  in  fine  weather,  from  two 


282 

hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  pounds  of  cotton  in  the 
day.  I  have  known  these  altered"  gins  do  sometimes  six  hun- 
dred, but  the  injury  was  greater  than  the  increased  quantity 
warranted,  add  to  which  the  quicker  movement  of  the  feeder 
made  the  more  impression  upon  the  cotton  passing  from  the 
feeder  to  the  roller. 

2d.  The  first  bale  of  Sea  Island  cotton  that  was  ever  pro- 
duced in  Georgia,  was  grown  by  Alexander  Bisset,  Esq.,  of 
St.  Simon's  Island,  and  I  think  in  the  year  1778.  In  the 
winter  of  1785  and  '86,  I  know  of  three  parcels  of  cotton 
seed  being  sent  from  the  Bahamas,  by  gentlemen  of  rank 
there,  to  their  friends  in  Georgia ;  Col.  Kelsall  sent  to  my 
father  a  small  box  of  cotton  seed  ;  the  surveyor-general  of  the 
Bahamas,  Col.  Tatnall,  sent  to  his  son,  afterwards  Governor 
Tatnall  of  Georgia,  a  parcel  of  cotton  seed  ;  Alexander  Bis- 
sett's  father,  who  was  commissary-general  to  the  Southern 
British. Army,  sent  a  box  of  cotton  seed  to  his  son,  in  the  year 
1786  ;  this  cotton  gave  no  fruit,  but  the  winter  being  moderate 
and  the  land  new  and  warm,  both  my  father  and  Mr.  Bissett 
had  seed  from  the  ratoon,  and  the  plant  became  acclimatized. 
In  1788,  Mr.  Bissett  and  my  father  extended  the  growth,  but 
upon  my  memory  it  rests,  that  Mr.  Bissett  was  the  first  that 
found  the  means  of  separating  the  seed  from  the  cotton,  by 
the  simple  process  of  a  bench  upon  which  rose  a  frame  sup- 
porting two  short  rollers,  revolving  in  opposite  directions,  and 
each  turned  by  a  black  boy  or  girl,  and  giving  as  the  result 
of  the  day's  work  five  Ibs.  of  clean  cotton.  What  dispo- 
sition Mr.  Bissett  made  of  his  cotton  I  know  not,  but  as  he 
was  a  sensible  man,  and  his  father  had  returned  to  England,  I 
think  it  more  than  probable  that  he  shipped  it  there. 

3d.  When  cotton  was  first  grown,  it  was  planted  on  the  flat 

land  at  five apart ;  it  was  quite  too  thin,  and  although  the 

plant  grew  generally  well,  the  product  rarely  reached  one 


ON  THE   COTTON  GIN.  283 

hundred  pounds  per  acre,  and  at  four  acres  to  tlie  hand,  gave 
about  four  hundred  to  the  labor. 

My  father  died  in  the  year  1794,  leaving  me  some  property 
at  St.  Simon's  Island.  A  gentleman,  who  had  been  his  friend, 
{jame,  for  his  health,  to  spend  the  winter  of  that  year  in  Georgia ; 
he  gave  his  advice  freely  to  all  he  saw  that  were  growing  cot- 
ton. I  was  young,  he  had  been  the  friend  of  my  father,  I 
listened  to  his  advice,  left  eight  or  ten  plants  where  one  had 
grown,  and  made  off  a  small  field  of  sixty  acres,  350  Ibs.  to  the 
acre.  The  revolution  was  accomplished,  and  the  crop  greatly 
increased. 

4th.  No  manure  was  used  for  many  years  in  the  culture  of 
cotton,  persons  depending  upon  the  in-field  and  the  out,  or  the 
alternate  cultivation  of  the  field,  which  was  soon  found  neces- 
sary. The  first  suggestion  of  manure  upon  a  large  scale  to 
cotton,  came  from  Col.  Shubrick,  of  South  Carolina,  who  re- 
commended, in  some  essays  in  the  papers,  the  application  of 
the  drifted  reck  that  is  thrown  up  by  the  tides.  After  the 
hurricane  of  1804, 1  bestowed  a  great  deal  of  labor  in  spreading 
this  reck  between  my  cotton  rows,  over  several  hundred  acres. 
"Whether  the  sea  had  left  too  much  salt,  or  whether  there  was 
too  much  in  the  material  itself,  I  know  not,  but  I  neither  then, 
nor  afterwards,  experienced  much  benefit  from  the  applica- 
tion. 

5th.  The  plough  was  but  little  used  for  any  purpose  at  St. 
Simon's.  It  takes  many  years  before  the  palmetto,  and  the 
collateral  roots  of  the  live  oak,  make  hammock  land  free  to  the 
plough.  Major  Butler  did  use  the  plough,  with  mules,  for  both 
purposes. 

6th.  The  cotton  was  generally  worked  four  times.  We 
soon  found  that  our  working  should  cease  as  soon  as  the  rains 
became  heavy,  say  at  the  middle  or  end  of  July. 

7th.  The  ridges  were  renewed  every  year,  or  every  other 


284  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

37ear,  whenever  the  field  was  planted  in  cotton.  They  were 
originally  low,  and  rather  small  they  were  increased  in  height 
and  breadth,  according  to  the  different  opinions  of  men. 

From  the  year  1798  to  1802,  the  St.  Simon's  cultivation  had 
assumed  a  regular  form,  and  was  in  my  opinion 'good  ;  twenty- 
one  rows  to  the  105  feet,  the  ridge  occupying  the  entire  space, 
large,  but  full  and  flat  upon  the  top.  The  cotton  seed  drilled, 
and  the  plants  thinned,  from  six  to  ten  inches  apart,  dependant 
upon  the  expected  growth  of  the  plant.  Major  Butler,  and 
Messrs.  Couper  and  Hamilton,  who  cultivated  extensively  near 
me,  were  in  the  habit  of  topping  the  cotton  in  August,  to  re- 
tain, as  they  supposed,  its  fruit.  I  was  in  the  habit  of  taking 
off  the  top  of  the  plant,  when  the  cotton  was  from  15  to  18 
inches  high,  to  make  it  branch  and  give  a  better  head. 

Twenty  years  ago,  upon  purchasing  some  river  land  opposite 
to  Savannah,  I  adopted  permanent  ridges,  planting  a  row  of 
corn,  and  a  row  of  cotton,  alternately.  These  ridges  had  stood 
nine  years  when  my  son  sold  the  plantation,  giving,  as  I  think, 
the  best  cotton  and  the  best  corn  crops  in  Chatham  county. 
And  this  course  I  consider  the  nearest  approach  to  Flemish 
husbandry  I  have  known  in  Georgia;  because,  although  the 
corn  and  the  cotton  changed  alternately  from  ridge  to  ridge, 
the  entire  field  was  kept  in  full  culture,  preventing  the  growth 
of  grass  and  noxious  weeds. 

8th.  Accounts  were  kept  in  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  in 
those  times.  Cotton  brought  at  first  14<Z.  sterling,  but  rose 
gradually,  in  about  four  or  five  years,  to  two  shillings ;  at  which 
it  stood  until  the  unfortunate  dabbling  with  commerce  com- 
menced in  the  year  1806.  The  first  non-importation  act  passed 
in  that  year,  and  none  more  active  in  its  adoption  than  our 
southern  men.  There  were  but  five  men,  south  of  the  Poto- 
mac, who  voted  against  it :  Randolph,  J.  M.  Garnett,  Thomson 
of  Virginia,  Standard  of  North  Carolina,  and  myself  from 


ON  THE   COTTON  GIN.  285 

Georgia.  From  that  day  to  this,  the  agriculture  and  commerce 
of  the  country  has  been  at  the  mercy  of  speculators. 

9th.  Care  was  taken,  for  many  years,  as  much  as  possible  to 
separate  the  seed  carrying  any  fur,  from  the  black  seed  in- 
tended for  planting. 

10th.  The  St.  Simon's  cotton  stood  first,  and  Major  Butler's 
and  my  own  first  among  them.  From  the  character  of  the 
tradesmen  attending  his  gins,  or  the  greater  strictness  of  his 
manager,  his  cotton  soon  took  a  preference  which  it  preserved 
for  some  years.  The  staple  of  the  St.  Simon's  cotton  was 
thought  better  than  any  other;  the  putting  up  of  Maj.  Butler's 
cotton  placed  it  at  the  hands  of  others. 

llth.  The  bags  were  packed  as  now,  with  the  pestle.  I 
never  knew  the  screw  used  for  long  staple  cotton  but  at  Mr, 
Hamilton's  plantation,  and  it  was  soon  given  up. 

12th.  The  green  seed  cotton  was  for  some  years  packed  with 
the  pestle ;  in  fact  I  remember  to  have  heard  objections  made 
to  the  screw,  and  square  bales,  at. their  first  introduction. 

13th.  Negroes  were  worked  in  task-work,  in  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  upon  the  sea-coast,  from  my  earliest  recollection. 
The  task  in  listing,  the  fields  being  previously  cleared  up  and 
the  remains  of  the  former  year  burned  off,  was  half  an  acre ; 
the  laborer  was  required  to  ridge  afterwards,  when  carefully 
done,  three-eighths  of  an  acre ;  and  in  hoeing,  half  an  acre  was 
the  task,  depending,  however,  much  upon  the  season  and  the 
condition  of  the  field. 

14th.  The  bags  generally  were  expected  to  weigh  300  Ibs. 
Major  Butler's  were  4J  yards,  and  contained  260  Ibs. 

15th.  The  rust  did  not  appear  for  some  years  in  our  fields, 
and  when  it  did,  I  attributed  it  to  listing  in  green  vegetable 
matter  in  the  latter  summer,  for  the  next  year's  crop ;  or  coarse 
vegetable  matter  in  the  winter,  instead  of  burning  off,  which 
left  a  light  top-dressing  of  ashes.  The  caterpillars  made  their 


286  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

appearance,  I  think,  for  the  first  time,  in  1793,  and  destroyed 
the  crop.  I  remember  Major  Butler  made  but  eighteen  bales 
of  cotton  from  400  acres.  There  was  also  a  red  bug,  a  winged 
insect  with  a  long  proboscis,  with  which  it  pierced  the  green 
pods,  extracting  the  juices  of  the  seed  and  leaving  the  pod 
blighted  and  hard,  and  the  cotton  stained  of  a  deep  yellow  or 
red  color.  In  new  lands  this  insect  was  very  destructive,  as 
it  had  been  in  the  Bahamas  ;  and  as  it  found  protection  against 
the  cold  in  the  bark  and  roots  of  the  trees,  it  was  apt  to  remain 
for  years,  injuring  the  quality  and  reducing  the  quantity  of 
the  cotton. 

16th.  The  caterpillar  was  first  seen  to  do  injury,  as  I  think, 
in  1793  :  the  injury  was  unusual,  the  destruction  complete,  so 
as  scarcely  to  leave  seed.  The  destructive  caterpillar  is  not 
the  same  that  feeds  upon  the  indigo ;  the  green  caterpillar  I 
have  frequently  known  to  riddle  the  leaves  to  a  great  extent, 
without  great  ultimate  injury ;  but  it  is  the  black  and  yellow 
striped  caterpillar  that  in  a  few  days,  say  from  four  to  five, 
will  spread  over  hundreds  of  acres,  not  leaving  a  green  leaf, 
and  finally  nothing  but  the  full  grown  pods,  which  they  some- 
times break  and  injure. 

17th.  The  black  seed  cotton  had  been  shipped  for  several 
years,  before  they  began  to  grow  in  the  interior  the  green  seed 
for  sale. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  respectfully,  your  ob't.  serv't., 

"THOMAS  SPALDING 


SECTION   III. — NATHAN   LYONS. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — Can  you  or  any  of  your  correspondents  give 
the  public  any  account  of  Nathan  Lyons  1  His  name  seems 
to  be  almost  forgotten ;  yet,  if  tradition  can  be  relied  on,  few 
men  have  done  more  for  the  South — since  it  is  to  him,  it  seems, 


NATHAN  LYONS.  287 

that  cotton  planters  are  indebted  for  that  indispensable  ma- 
chine, the  cotton  gin,  now  in  such  general  use.  It  is  just 
cause  of  reproach  to  any  people,  to  forget  or  to  refuse  due 
honors  to  their  own  benefactors ;  and  it  is  for  the  purpose  of 
retrieving1,  in  some  sort,  this  country  from  such  a  reproach, 
that  I  would  now  solicit  for  publication  in  the  Soil  of  the 
South,  a  brief  memoir  of  Nathan  Lyons,  a  man  whose  invent- 
ive genius,  it  is  asserted,  first  contrived  the  circular  saw  for 
separating  the  seed  from  the  cotton  wool. 

Eli  Whitney,  of  Connecticut,  doubtless  developed  the  first 
idea  of  a  machine  for  ginning  cotton  by  the  use  of  a  single 
revolving  cylinder  armed  with  iron  points  or  teeth,  acting  in 
connection  with  fixed  bars,  and  a  bush  to  extricate  the  cotton 
wool  from  the  teeth  of  the  revolving  cylinder.  For  this  inven- 
tion he  obtained  a  patent  right  of  exclusive  use  and  sale,  and 
erected  one  or  more  machines  at  Augusta  about  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  or  the  first  of  this.  A"  glimpse  of  this  ma- 
chine, it  is  said,  suggested  to  the  quick  mind  of  Lyons,  the 
substitution  of  a  circular  saw,  for  the  wire  hooks  or  card-teeth 
contrivance  of  Whitney.  Although  the  invention  of  Lyons 
had  a  practical  value  incomparably  greater  than  that  of  Whit- 
ney, it  was  never  patented — the  inventor  contenting  himself 
with  such  profits  as  might  accrue  from  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  saw-gins  at  his  own  shop.  Though  Whitney  is  admit- 
ted to  be  fairly  entitled  to  the  honor  of  originality,  except  a 
grant  of  money  from  the  government  of  South  Carolina,  it  is 
not  believed  that  he  ever  derived  any  considerable  pecuniary 
profits  from  his  patent.  He  instituted  suits  against  many 
persons  in  this  State  who  were  using  Lyons'  saw-gin,  but  it  is 
not  known  that  he  recovered  in  a  single  instance.  The  ablest 
counsel  could  not  make  our  juries  believe  that  Whitney's 
model  was  the  same  piece  of  machinery  with  Lyons'  saw-gin. 
Since  the  days  of  Lyons,  Griswold,  Taylor,  Reid,  Oglesby, 


288  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

and  other  machinists  of  this  State,  have,  by  various  improve- 
ments, brought  the  saw-gin  to  great  perfection ;  but  whilst 
conceding  all  due  praise  to  them,  let  us  not  be  guilty  of  slight- 
ing original  inventors,  especially  those  whose  mental  achieve- 
ments have  contributed  so  much  to  enrich  and  aggrandize  our 
own  Georgia.  Respectfully, 

Blakcley,  Ga.,  May,  10,  1S52.  J.  C. 

[We  approve  the  suggestions  of  our  correspondent  from 
Blakeley,  and  hope  that  they  may  be  the  means  of  eliciting 
the  desired  information.  There  are  doubtless  some  persons 
residing  in  Middle  Georgia,  perhaps  in  Putnam  or  Hancock 
counties,  who  could  furnish  us  with  such  a  memoir.  The  im- 
portance of  the  invention,  or  the  honor  due  to  the  name  of  the 
man  who  made  it,  is  enhanced  as  it  grows  older ;  and  whilst 
those  who  were  the  contemporaries  of  such  a  man  may  not 
properly  estimate  his  claims  to  distinction,  it  is  due  to  the 
history  of  the  times,  as  well  as  to  the  fame  of  the  man,  that 
we  should  properly  record  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  give 
"  honor  to  whom  honor  is  due."  Monuments  rise,  and  history 
teems  with  eulogies  upon  the  valorous  chief  of  the  battle  field, 
while  the  name  of  the  humble,  unpretending  mechanic,  who 
may  have  originated  improvements  which  swelled  the  wealth 
of  the  nation,  saved  labor,  and  ameliorated  the  condition  of 
the  whole  human  family,  may  have  failed  to  descend  to  pos- 
terity, or  find  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  country.  It  may 
not  have  been  a  matter  of  any  great  importance  when  Georgia 
was  the  little  and  obscure  member  of  the  old  family  of  thir- 
teen, to  have  known  who  lived  or  figured  in  that  day.  But 
now,  when  her  cognomen  is,  "  The  Empire  State  of  the 
South,"  we  want  to  go  back,  (as  with  our  great  men,)  to  her 
school  boy  days,  note  the  indices  of  those  times,  and  see  what 
and  who  hath  helped  to  build  up  this  great  name.] 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   COTTON  GIN.  289 


SECTION   IV. — ORIGIN   OF   THE   COTTON   GIN. 

MR.  EDITOR  : — In  a  last  year's  number  of  the  Soil  of  the 
South,  some  one  has  written  an  article  respecting  the  inven- 
tion of  the  cotton  saw-gin,  and  seems  to  think  that  Nathan 
Lyons  was  the  inventor.  My  father,  who  settled  in  this 
place  before  the  Revolution,  (and  this  is  the  oldest  town  in 
Georgia,)  has  often  told  me  that  Jesse  Bull,  the  father  of 
Col.  0.  A.  Bull,  now  of  La  Grange,  and  Charles  M.  Lin,  and 
Lyons,  were  all  interested  in  the  making  of  the  first  gin.  Mr. 
Lin  is  the  only  survivor  of  the  trio.  He  is  a  poor  man ; 
resides  in  or  near  Oxford,  Georgia.  Being  on  a  visit  here  I 
had  a  conversation  with  him  a  few  days  since  and  gathered 
from  him  the  following  particulars.  The  first  cotton  gin  was 
put  in  operation  at  the  mill  on  Brier  Creek  run  by  water,  nine 
miles  below  this.  This  gin  was  said  to  be  invented  by  Whit- 
ney— it  was  not  made  of  saws — but  with  teeth,  something 
like  the  cotton  card — it  was  kept  concealed — the  man  who 
tended  it  was  ordered  to  let  no  man  in  to  see  it ;  women,  who 
wm*«  many  of  them  very  anxious  to  see  it,  were  admitted — 
at  the  same  time  Mr.  Bull,  being  a  man  of  great  mechanical 
genius,  was  closely  engaged  trying  to  construct  a  machine  for 
separating  the  seed  from  the  lint.  Lyons — Ned  Lyons— was 
at  work  with  him,  and  proposed  to  go  in  disguise  and  see  the 
gin  then  in  operation — and  did — dressed  himself  in  women's 
apparel-— went  in  and  examined  it — this  fact  is  corroborated 
by  Mr.  Hobson  Bacon,  whose  brother  was  hired  to  tend  the 
gin — and  he,  the  brother,  was  taken  sick,  and  my  uncle  Hob- 
son  Bacon  took  his  place  for  a  few  days — during  which  time 
many  women  were  in  to  see  the  cotton  gin.  Soon  after  the 
first  saw  gin  came  out  from  Jesse  Bull's  shop,  was  put  up  in  a 
bouse  on  Broad  street  in  this  place — and  was  run  by  this  same 
13 


290  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

man,  Chas.  M.  Lin.  These  I  believe  to  be  facts — I  remember 
the  house  myself.  After  this,  Miller  and  Whitney,  the  pat- 
entees of  the  Whitney  gin,  brought  an  action  against  the 
inventors  of  the  saw-gin,  and  after  about  nine  years'  litigation, 
got  judgment  for  a  few  dollars.  Mr.  Lin  thinks  he  had  to 
pay  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  running  the  gin,  but 
there  was  injustice  in  the  whole  proceeding.  Miller  &  Whit- 
ney feed  every  attorney  that  could  be  employed,  and  the  case 
was  carried  up  by  Lyons  to  the  Federal  court  and  there  he, 
Lin,  was  lost  sight  of.  Bull  turned  into  South  Carolina,  and 
after  being  absent  for  months,  at  sundry  times,  would  always 
return  with  heavy  bags  of  silver.  Another  circumstance 
connected  with  this  history  is,  that  Dr.  De  Amford,  a  Ger- 
man, living  in  this  place,  was  called  to  give  his  testimony  in 
the  court,  and  he  swore  that  the  gin  which  Whitney  professed 
to  be  the  inventor  of,  was  invented  by  a  surgeon  of  Germany, 
for  the  preparing  of  lint  for  the  army. 

These  are  all  the  facts  I  can  gather  from  these  two  old 
men.  I  have  hastily  thrown  them  together  in  bad  taste.  If 
you  think  them  worth  a  place  in  your  paper,  you  can  use 
them.  Very  respectfully, 

Wrigktsboro',  Ga.,  Jan.,  1853.  THOMAS  H.  WHITE. 


SECTION  V. — STATISTICS   OF   COTTON. 

THE  following  brief  items  of  the  history  of  cotton  for  about 
a  hundred  years — 1730  to  1836 — will  be  read  and  referred  to 
with  interest  : 

1730.  Mr.  Wyatt  spins  the  first  cotton  yarn  in  England  by 
machinery. 

1735.  The  Dutch  first  export  cotton  from  Surinam. 

1742.  First  mill  for  spinning  cotton  erected  at  Birming 


STATISTICS   OF   COTTON.  291 

ham,  moved  by  mules  or  horses ;  but  not  successful  in  opera- 
tions. 

1749.  The  first  shuttle  generally  used  in  England. 

1756.  Cotton  velvets  and  quiltings  in  England  for  the  first 
time. 

1761.  Arkwright  obtained  the  first  patent  for  the  spinning 
frame,  which  he  further  improved. 

1768.  The  stocking  frame  applied  by  Hammond  to  making 
of  lace. 

1773.  A  bill  passed  to  prevent  the  export  of  machinery 
used  in  cotton  factories. 

1779.  Mule  spinning  invented  by  Hargrave. 

1782.  First  import  of  raw  cotton  from  Brazil  into  England. 

1782.  Watt  took  out  his  patent  for  the  steam  engine. 

1783.  A  bounty  granted  in  England  on  the  export  of  certain 
cotton  goods. 

1785.  Power  looms  invented  by  Dr.  Cartwright.  Steam 
engines  used  in  cotton  factories. 

1785.  Cotton  imported  into  England  from  the  United  States. 

1786.  Bleaching  first  performed  by  agency  of  the  oxy-mu- 
riatic  acid. 

1787.  First  machinery  to  spin  cotton  put  in  operation  in 
France. 

1789.  Sea  island  cotton  first  planted  in  the  United  States ; 
and  upland  cotton  first  cultivated  for  use  and  export  about 
this  time. 

1790.  Slater,  an  Englishman,  built  the  first  American  cot- 
ton factory  at  Pawtucket,  E.  I. 

1792.  Eli  Whitney,  an  American,  invents  the  cotton  gin, 
which  he  patents. 

1798.  First  mill  and  machinery  for  cotton  erected  in  Switz- 
erland. 

1799.  Spinning  by  machinery  introduced  into   Saxony  this 
year. 


292  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

1803.  First  cotton  factory  built  in  New  Hampshire. 

1805.  Power  looms  successfully  and  widely  introduced  into 
England. 

1807.  The  revolution  in  Spanish  America  begins  to  furnish 
new  markets  for  cotton  manufactures. 

1810.  Digest  of  cotton  manufactures  in  the  United  States 
by  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  another  by  Mr.  Tenche  Cox,  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

1811.  Machinery  to  make  bobbin  lace   patented  by  John 
Bern. 

1813.  The  Indian  trade  more  free,  and  more  British  manu- 
factures sent  thither. 

1814.  The   power-loom   first   introduced   into    the    United 
States ;  first  at  Waltham. 

1818.  Average  price  of  cotton  34  cents — higher  than  since 
1810.     New  method  of  preparing  sewing  cotton  by  Mr.  Holt. 

1819.  Extraordinary  price  for  Alabama  cotton  lands. 

1820.  Steam  power  first  applied,  with  success,  extensively 
to  lace  manufactures. 

1822.  First  cotton  factory  in  Lowell  erected. 

1823.  First  export  of  raw  cotton  from  Egypt  into  Great 
Britain. 

1825.  New  Orleans  cotton  at  from  23  to  25  cents  per  pound. 

1826.  Self-acting  mule  spinner  patented  in   England   by 
Roberts. 

1827.  American  cotton  manufactures  first  exported  to  any 
considerable  extent. 

1829.  Highest  duty  in  the  United  States  on  foreign  cotton 
manufactures. 

1830.  About  this  time  Mr.  Dyer  introduced  a  machine  from 
the  United  States  into  England,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
cards. 

1832.   Duty   on   cotton  goods  imported   into   the   United 


COTTON  GIN  AND   PACKING  SCREW.  293 

States  reduced ;  and  in  England  it  is  forbid  to  employ  minors 
in  cotton  mills  to  work  more  than  ten  hours  per  day,  or  nine 
hours  on  Saturday ;  in  consequence  they  work  at  something 
else. 

1834.  Cotton  at  17  cents. 

1835.  Extensive  purchases  made  of  cotton  lands  by  specu- 
lators and  others. 

1836.  Cotton  from  18  to  20  cents. 


SECTION   VI. — COTTON   GIN   AND   PACKING   SCREW. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  : — One  of  your  correspondents  has  dis- 
covered that  cast-iron  screws  are  a  desideratum  in  packing 
cotton,  and  refers  to  Mr.  Finley,  of  Macon,  for  the  cost  of 
them.  This  is  no  new  discovery.  The  first  screw  employed 
in  packing  cotton  was  probably  made  of  iron.  About  the  year 
seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-five,  a  gentleman  from  Balti- 
more— the  father  of  Judge  Bull,  of  La  Grange — settled  in  Co- 
lumbia county,  in  this  State,  and  introduced  the  cotton  gin, 
although  Whitney  claimed  the  credit  of  it  and  will  probably 
always  be  known  as  the  inventor  of  a  machine  which  has  pro- 
duced such  a  marvelous  revolution  in  the  commerce  of  the 
world.  Bull  lived  in  Columbia  county,  and  Whitney  resided 
on  the  plantation  of  Gen.  Green  (of  revolutionary  memory)  in 
Liberty  county,  two  counties  at  that  period  considered  very 
remote  from  each  other  and  between  them  there  was  but  little 
intercourse.  Their  inventions  having  the  same  object  in  view 
were  nevertheless  made  without  a  knowledge  of  any  preexist- 
ing machine  for  ginning  cotton.  Bull  used  at  first  perpendic- 
ular saws,  but  very  soon  ascertained  that  circular  saws  were 
better  adapted  to  his  purposes  and  substituted  them.  Whit- 
ney obtained  a  patent  for  his  invention  and  commenced  suits 


294  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

against  Bull  and  others  who  were  using  his  gins  in  the  United 
States  Court,  as  the  records  of  that  Court  at  Savannah  will,  I 
presume,  show.  These  suits  were  never  tried,  as  it  was  un- 
derstood that  Bull  was  prepared  to  prove  by  reliable  and 
incontrovertible  testimony  that  his  gin  was  his  own  invention 
and  was  no  infringement  of  Whitney's  rights  under  his'  patent ; 
and  I  have  Judge  Bull's  authority  for  saying  that  Whitney 
offered  his  father  ten  thousand  dollars  to  suffer  a  judgment  to 
be  rendered  against  him,  which  he  refused. 

When  Bull  first  put  his  gin  in  operation  he  ginned  for  the 
fourth,  and  excluded  all  male  visitors,  but  females  who  were 
prompted  by  motives  of  curiosity  to  see  it,  were  admitted. 
Some  one  who  was  a  mechanic  or  a  machinist  introduced  him- 
self in  the  disguise  of  an  old  woman  and  with  a  walking  stick 
on  which  its  measure  in  inches  was  obscurely  marked,  ob- 
tained the  dimensions  of  the  machine  and  with  the  knowledge 
thus  surreptitiously  procured,  constructed  a  gin  on  the  same 
model. 

That  Whitney  was  entitled  to  the  credit  of  the  invention 
which  he  patented  is  probable,  but  that  Bull  was  the  first  to 
introduce  the  saw  gin — the  prototype  of  the  gin  now  in  use — 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt.  Whitney's  name  has  ever  been 
and  will  always  be  connected  with  this  great  and  important 
invention,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  Bull's  claim  to  the 
honor  of  an  invention  which  has  excited  such  a  wonderful 
influence  in  controlling  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  has 
contributed  so  much  to  the  comforts  and  the  wants  of  man- 
kind, cannot,  owing  to  the  lapse  of  years,  be  successfully  vin- 
dicated. 

After  his  extraordinary  success  in  constructing  a  machine 
for  ginning  cotton,  Bull  went  to  New  York  and  had  two  iron 
screws  cast  for  pressing  cotton.  They  were  employed  in  the 
city  of  Augusta  in  repacking  cotton  for  shipment.  These 


COTTON   GIN   AND   PACKING   SCREW.  295 

were  probably  the  first  screws  ever  used  baling  cotton.  What- 
ever doubt  may  exist  in  relation  to  Bull's  claim  to  the  inven- 
tion of  the  gin,  there  is  but  little  doubt  but  that  he  is  entitled 
to  the  credit  of  the  first  packing  screw. 

Col.  Dawson,  of  the  Sulphur  Springs  in  Meriwether  county, 
remembers  when  Edward  Lyon,  who  had  been  in  Bull's 
service,  built  the  first  gin  in  Wilkes  county.  He  thinks  this 
occurred  in  the  year  1806 ;  and  he  remembers  that  Gilbert 
and  Pruclen  had  the  first  screws  for  packing  cotton  i-n  that 
county,  which  were  located  in  Washington,  and  made  of  cast 
iron.  There  are  many  Georgia  who  remember  when  the 
wooden  screw  was  introduced.  Previous  to  that  time,  nearly 
all  the  cotton  made  was  packed  in  round  bales  without  the 
agency  of  the  screw.  Such  screws  as  were  in  use  were  made 
of  cast  iron. 

Your  correspondent  does  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  this  fact, 
and  I  think  it  probable  that  the  two  he  found  on  his  planta- 
tion had  been  long  since  discarded  and  their  place  supplied 
with  the  safer  and  more  economical  wooden  screw.  He  refers 
to  their  durability  as  a  recommendation.  It  is  true  that  no 
limit  can  be  prescribed  to  the  duration  of  cast  iron,  but  in  the 
shape  of  a  screw  it  is,  because  of  its  brittleness,  liable  to  break 
in  exerting  the  immense  power  which  is  required  of  it  in 
packing  a  bale  of  cotton,  and  when  it  does  break  it  gives  no 
premonition  of  the  danger  which  menaces  every  one  within 
reach  of  it.  The  age  of  cast  iron  screws  has  passed  away, 
and  I  do  not  think  that  your  correspondent,  even  with  the 
aid  of  Mr.  Finley,  can  revive  it. 

Pike  County,  Ga. ;  1856.  ANTIQUARY. 


296 


SECTION   VII. — HISTORY   OF   THE    COTTON   GIN. 

AN  esteemed  correspondent,  of  Pike  County,  Ga.,  writes  ns 
as  follows  ;  and  we  commend  his  suggestions  to  the  attention 
of  Judge  Andrews  and  others.  The  true  history  of  this  im- 
portant invention,  should  be  preserved  : 

EDITORS  SOUTHERN  CULTIVATOR — Could  you  not  induce 
some  one  who  has  a  taste  for  home  antiquities,  to  give  you 
the  history  of  the  cotton  gin  1  There  are  probably  some  liv- 
ing in  Columbia  county  or  in  that  part  of  the  State  whose 
recollection  goes  as  far  back  as  1795.  If  so,  they  could  shed 
much  light  on  the  subject.  I  should  be  pleased  to  know  when 
Whitney's  patent  bears  date,  and  whether  the  record  of  the 
United  States  Court  at  Savannah  would  not  afford  some  infor- 
mation. Much  of  what  is  known  on  the  subject  is  traditionary 
and  unless  collected  will  very  soon  be  lost.  There  is  an  aged 
and  an  intelligent  citizen  of  La  Grange,  by  the  name  of  Amos, 
who,  Judge  Bull  informs  me,  worked  in  the  shop  of  his  father. 
From  him  and  from  other  aged  citizens  much  information 
could  be  collected.  I  know  of  no  one  who  has  more  taste  and 
capability  for  writing  the  history  of  the  cotton  gin  than  Judge 
Andrews,  and  I  presume  that  at  your  suggestion  he  would 
favor  the  readers  of  the  Cultivator  with  another  communica- 
tion on  the  subject. 

Respectfully  yours,  \v.  D.  A. 


HISTORY   OF  THE   COTTON  GIN.  297 


ELI  WHITNEY,*  THE  INVENTOR  OF  THE  COTTON  GIN. 

A  STRUGGLE  always  presents  a  manly  and  inspiring  spec- 
tacle. Man  was  made  for  action — arid  he  cannot  but  sympa- 
thize with  earnest  and  energetic  action  on  the  part  of  others. 
The  struggle  of  brute  force  against  brute  force,  is  not  without 
interest.  The  strife  of  mind  with  mind  is  nobler ;  nobler  still 
is  the  struggle  of  mind  with  unwilling  nature,  when  he  is 
sternly  resolved  on  wresting  from  her  reluctant  grasp  the  secret 
of  her  mystery.  The  interest  increases  just  as  the  genius  is 
commanding — as  the  obstacles  are  great  and  manifold — as  the 
strife  is  protracted — and  as  the  triumph  is  complete  and  final. 
If  the  struggle  be  for  a  worthy  object,  and  that  object  be  fully 
secured  in  some  permanent  benefit  to  mankind,  which  remains 
as  its  lasting  memorial,  it  is  nobler  still. 

For  one  or  all  of  these  reasons — the  lives  of  "  self-made  men" 
have  usually  a  peculiar  charm.  They  are  always  read  with 
an  eager  interest  by  the  young  and  hopeful.  Most  of  all  are 
they  favorite  books  with  the  young  American.  The  structure 
of  our  government  and  society,  gives  leave  to  every  man  to 
make  the  most  of  himself.  The  buoyant  and  hopeful  youth 
of  our  people,  the  boundless  and  undeveloped  resources  holding 
out  so  wide  a  field  for  effort,  and  the  familiar  spectacle  of  men, 
who,  from  the  humblest  origin,  have  risen  by  native  energy  to 
the  highest  stations  of  wealth  and  honor,  these  all  combine  to 
make  the  incidents  of  the  life  of  such  men  the  favorite  reading 
of  multitudes  among  us. 

There  are  few  lives  of  this  class  that  present  the  elements 

*  Memoir  of  Eli  Whitney,  Esq.  By  Denison  Olmstead,  Professor  of 
Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy,  Yale  College.  First  published  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Science,  for  1832.  New-Haven:  Durne  &  Peck. 
1346.  pp.  80. 


298  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

of  higher,  we  might  almost  say,  of  more  romantic  interest,  than 
the  life  of  Eli  Whitney.  All  the  elements  we  have  named 
are  here  present.  There  is  great  genius,  adequately  trained 
for  its  conflict.  There  is  an  object  most  noble  and  inspiring, 
and  clearly  contemplated  by  him  as  worthy  his  efforts — there 
Is  success  the  most  complete  and  triumphant,  in  a  result  the 
value  of  which  defies  all  computation  ;  and  there  are  obstacles 
enough  to  invigorate,  to  test,  and  develope  the  sternest  heroism. 
We  do  not  propose  to  give  here  an  extended  view  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Whitney,  or  a  history  of  his  life.  Both  of  these  have 
been  ably  done  in  the  work  of  which  we  have  given  the  title. 
There  are,  however,  some  facts  and  some  personal  traits,  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  his  greatest  invention,  which  ought 
to  be  familiar  to  all  our  citizens. 

Whitney  \vas  born  in  Massachusetts,  at  Westborough,  in  the 
year  1765.  His  father  was  a  frugal,  hard-working  farmer,  who 
had  some  taste  for  mechanics,  as  it  would  seem,  having  pro- 
vided himself  with  a  work-shop,  which  was  stocked  with  a 
small  supply  of  tools.  This  work-shop  laid  the  foundations  of 
Whitney's  fame,  and  strengthened  the  decided  genius  for 
.mechanics  which  he  very  early  developed.  From  the  earliest 
age  at  which  he  could  handle  tools,  he  was  always  in  this  shop. 
At  about  the  age  of  twelve,  he  made  a  very  tolerable  violin, 
which  was  finished  in  all  respects,  and  furnished  very  good 
music.  This  wonderful  performance,  for  a  boy  of  his  age,  and 
at  that  period  in  the  history  of  our  country,  when  the  mechanic 
arts  were  so  rude,  in  an  interior  country  town  too,  as  might 
reasonably  be  supposed,  established  his  fame  as  a  mechanic. 
From  this  time  he  was  employed  to  repair  violins,  and  to  exe- 
cute difficult  jobs  of  various  kinds,  in  all  of  which  he  seems  to 
have  been  uniformly  successful.  At  about  this  period,  he  took 
the  opportunity,  during  the  absence  of  his  father  at  church,  of 
prying  into  the  mystery  of  his  watch,  which  was  to  him  a 


HISTORY   OF   THE    COTTON   GIX.  299 

strange  and  unknown  thing.  Before  he  was  aware  of  what  ho 
had  done,  he  had  taken  it  in  pieces.  But  true  to  his  genius, 
he  attempted  at  once  to  put  it  together,  and  succeeded  so  per- 
fectly, and  so  soon,  that  his  father  never  suspected  what  he 
had  done.  At  thirteen,  he  made  a  handsome  table-knife,  to 
supply  the  place  of  one  of  a  well-finished  set  which  had  been 
broken,  and  succeeded  so  completely,  that  excepting  the  stamp 
upon  the  blade,  for  which  he  had  not  the  necessary  tools,  it 
matched  perfectly  with  the  others.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  or 
sixteen,  he  proposed  to  his  father,  with  characteristic  enter- 
prise, to  commence  the  manufacture  of  nails,  which  were  then 
made  entirely  by  hand.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  nails  were  scarce  and  dear.  This  enterprise 
was  profitable,  so  profitable  that  after  two  years  he  determined 
to  enlarge  the  business,  and  set  off  on  a  secret  journey  to  find 
a  suitable  fellow-workman.  After  travelling  forty  miles  he 
found  his  man,  and  returned — having  called  at  every  shop  by 
the  wayside,  to  gather  from  each  all  the  information  which  he 
could  in  respect  to  the  mechanic  arts. 

Such  was  Whitney  in  his  boyhood ;  distinguished  not  only 
for  his  mechanical  skill,  joined  with  bold  and  self-relying  en- 
terprise, but  also  for  a  decided  interest  in  the  mathematics. 
His  feelings  were  ardent,  yet  completely  tempered  and  con- 
trolled by  prudence.* 

*  When  Mr.  Whitney  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  became  distinctly 
conscious  that  he  had  not  the  control  of  his  own  mind — that  his  imagination 
was  so  fruitful  and  roving,  and  his  temperament  so  excitable,  that  he  could 
not  command  his  attention.  He  at  once  set  himself,  by  a  deliberate  effort, 
to  gain  the  mastery  of  himself,  and  actually  to  hold  his  mind  to  a  given  point. 
The  effort  was  trying — it  cost  him  a  whole  night  of  struggle ;  but  the  victory 
was  complete,  and  he  felt  ever  after  that  his  self-command  was  sufficient. 
He  showed  to  his  friends,  all  his  life  after,  the  results  of  this  effort  in  the 
control  of  his  attention,  by  which  he  could  pass  from  one  subject  to  another, 
be,  as  it  were,  entirely  absorbed  in  it,  and  then  take  up  the  one  which  he 
bad  left,  and  find  ife  just  as  he  had  left  it. 


300 

From  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  formed  the  project  of  receiving 
a  collegiate  education,  and  though  thwarted  and  delayed  by- 
influences  at  Jiome,  he  adhered  to  this  determination  till  four 
years  after,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  when  he  was  admitted 
to  the  Freshman  class  at  Yale  College.  The  expenses  of  his 
collegiate  career  were  defrayed  from  his  own  industry,  with 
temporary  loans  from  his  father.  We  regard  this  purpose, 
formed  by  such  a  young  man,  at  so  late  a  period  of  life,  and 
carried  through  after  so  long  a  delay,  as  a  decisive  and  striking 
indication  of  strong  good  sense,  and  a  very  elevated  and  com- 
prehensive intellect.  The  quick  and  able  mechanic  is,  of  all 
men,  the  most  likely  to  cherish  an  overweening  sense  of  his 
own  gifts,  and  to  think  that  the  peculiar  skill  in  which  he 
towers  above  the  whole  circle  of  his  acquaintance,  is  the  only 
knowledge  worth  possessing.  The  rewards  and  promises  which 
hold  out  to  such  a  man  the  allurement  of  speedy  and  brilliant 
success,  are  usually  too  exciting  to  be  thrust  forward  into  the 
dim  future,  for  the  sake  of  the  unattractive  studies  of  abstract 
science.  What  views  Whitney  entertained  on  this  subject,  or 
what  particular  consideration  decided  him  upon  a  course  so 
unusual,  we  are  not  informed.  We  record  the  fact  as  a  de- 
cisive proof  that  his  genius,  though,  from  the  first,  daring  and 
self-confident,  was  freighted  with  a  large  measure  of  foresight, 
comprehensiveness,  and  good  sense.  At  college  he  was  much 
interested  in  mathematical  and  philosophical  studies,  and  con- 
stantly gave  proof  that  his  genius  in  invention  and  in  practical 
mechanics  was  not  in  the  least  exhausted. 

Thus  ended  the  period  of  his  preparation  for  the  great  work 
to  which  he  was  destined  to  apply  his  powers.  This  prepara- 
tion was  singularly  complete.  There  was  the  earliest  and 
brightest  promise,  answering  completely  to  the  word  genius, 
as  understood  in  its  most  peculiar  and  highest  import — which 
genius  had  been  rarely  disciplined  in  those  two  opposite  yet 


HISTORY   OP  THE   COTTON   GIN.  301 

• 

equally  essential  courses  of  training — the  training  of  practical 
life  and  that  of  scientific  studies.  The  descent  of  such  a  man 
upon  the  arena  of  great  achievement,  is  as  the  appearance  of 
a  giant  wearing  a  giant's  panoply,  either  of  which  it  is  pleas- 
ant to  look  upon,  but  both  of  which  united  are  splendid  and 
imposing. 

After  leaving  college,  Mr.  Whitney  almost  immediately 
went  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  for  the  purpose  of  fulfilling  an 
engagement  with  a  gentleman  to  reside  in  his  family  as  a 
private  teacher.  On  his  way  to  Savannah,  by  ship,  he  had 
as  a  companion  of  his  voyage,  the  widow  of  the  then  late  Gen. 
Greene,  so  distinguished  in  the  annals  of  our  revolutionary 
history.  On  his  arrival  at  Savannah,  being  but  partially  re- 
covered from  the  small-pox,  which  he  had  by  inoculation,  he 
was  invited  by  Mrs.  Greene  to  spend  a  little  time  at  her  resid- 
dence  at  Mulberry  Grove,  near  that  city.  He  soon  learned 
that  another  teacher  had  been  employed  in  the  place  which 
he  had  expected.  Mrs.  Greene  at  once  kindly  and  generously 
proposed  to  him  to  commence  the  study  of  the  law  under  her 
hospitable  roof,  and  to  remain  in  her  family  as  long  as  he 
should  choose.  He  had  not  been  long  with  her  before  he  gave 
striking  proofs  of  his  mechanical  ingenuity,  which  attracted 
the  attention  of  Mrs.  G.,  and  led  her  to  feel  that  Whitney 
could  meet  any  exigency  in  which  invention  and  skill  of  this 
kind  were  required.  Not  long  after,  Mrs.  Green  was  visited 
by  several  gentlemen  from  Upper  Georgia,  principally  officers 
who  had  served  with  her  husband  in  the  war.  Of  these  were 
Majors  Brewer,  Forsythe,  and  Pendleton.  They  conversed 
largely  upon  the  situation  and  prospects  of  agriculture  in  the 
opening  upper  country  of  the  South,  and  expressed  regret  that 
no  means  had  been  devised  to  clear  the  upland  cotton  from 
the  seed,  saying  that  unless  such  a  point  could  be  attained,  it 
was  vain  to  raise  cotton  for  the  market.  Mrs.  Greene  inter*. 


302  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

rtipted  tlieir  conversation,  by  saying,  "  Gentlemen,  apply  to 
my  young  friend,  Mr.  Whitney,  he  can  make  anything." 
After  showing  them,  as  the  results  of  his  ingenuity,  the  vari- 
ous mechanical  contrivances  which  he  had  devised  and  ex- 
ecuted, she  introduced  him  to  the  circle,  who  at  once  made 
known  the  object  to  be  accomplished,  and  the  difficulties 
which  were  in  the  way.  Whitney,  in  reply,  disclaimed  any 
superiority  of  mechanical  genius,  and  added,  that  he  had  never 
in  his  life  seen  either  cotton  or  cotton  seed.  Mrs.  Greene 
then  said,  "  I  have  accomplished  my  aim.  Mr.  Whitney  is  a 
very  deserving  young  man,  and  to  bring  him  into  notice  was 
my  object.  The  interest  which  our  friends  now  feel  for  him, 
will,  I  hope,  lead  to  his  getting  some  employment  to  enable 
him  to  prosecute  the  study  of  the  law."  The  interest  of  Mrs. 
Greene  in  this  young  and  ingenious  stranger,  who  had  been 
fortuitously  thrown  in  her  way,  deserves  to  be  recorded  in  her 
honor.  Such  interest  is  not,  we  believe,  uncommon,  particu- 
larly at  the  hospitable  home  of  the  generous  Southerner.  It 
is  rare  that  it  meets  with  a  reward  so  befitting,  yet  so  splendid, 
as  awaited  Mrs.  Greene,  of  having  her  name  associated  with 
the  man  and  the  invention  which  was  destined  to  produce  so 
striking  a  change  on  the  interests  and  importance  of  the  entire 
southern  country. 

Some  of  our  northern  readers  may  here,  perhaps,  need  to 
be  informed,  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  cotton  raised  at  the 
south — the  one,  the  Sea  Island,  the  black  seed  or  long  staple 
cotton ;  the  other  the  upland,  green  seed  or  short  staple.  One 
of  these  species  can  be  grown  only  upon  the  lowlands  near 
the  sea.  Its  fibre  is  long  and  fine ;  it  can  be  separated  from 
the  seed  with  comparative  ease,  and  it  is  used  in  the  finer 
fabrics,  as  cambrics  and  muslins.  This  cotton  was  the  only 
species  that  was  extensively  cultivated  previous  to  Whitney's 
invention,  and  its  growth  was  confined,  as  it  is  now,  to  rare 


HISTORY  OF   THE   COTTON   GIN.  803 

and  peculiar  situations.  Its  price,  per  lb.,  is  many  times  that 
of  the  other ;  and  at  this  day,  though  a  plantation  fit  for  its 
culture  is  of  rare  value,  yet  the  value  of  the  entire  production 
of  this  species  is  quite  insignificant  compared  with  that  of  the 
whole  cotton  crop  of  the  Union. 

The  upland  cotton  can  be  raised  on  a  large  portion  of  the 
interior  lands  of  the  Southern  States.  Its  fibre  is  short,  and 
adheres  tenaciously  to  the  seed,  and  presented  such  difficulties 
in  being  cleaned,  that  the  separation  of  a  pound  of  cotton  was 
esteemed  the  work  of  a  day  for  a  single  hand ;  this  circum- 
stance alone  interposing  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  its 
general  or  profitable  culture.  It  may  easily  be  understood, 
why  the  subject  of  a  mechanical  invention  of  this  sort  was  es- 
teemed so  desirable  by  these  gentlemen,  residing,  as  they  did, 
on  the  borders  of  this  upper  country — and  being  able  to  foresee 
truly,  yet  dimly,  what  immense  results  were  hanging  upon 
the  possibility  of  such  an  invention. 

The  hint  given  to  Whitney  by  these  gentlemen  was  not 
lost  upon  him.  The  season  for  cotton  in  the  seed  was  passed, 
but  Whitney  went  to  Savannah  at  once,  and  after  a  long 
search,  at  last  lighted  upon  a  small  quantity ;  with  this  he 
returned  to  his  temporary  home,  and  communicated  his  inten- 
tions to  Mr.  Miller,  who  was  then  a  teacher  in  the  family,  and 
afterwards  married  Mrs.  Greene.  A  room  was  assigned  to 
him,  to  which  Mr.  Miller  and  Mrs.  Greene  were  the  only 
persons  who  were  admitted,  or  who  knew  anything  of  his 
project.  His  materials  and  tools  were  both  limited ;  even 
the  wire  which  he  required  could  not  be  found  at  Savannah, 
and  he  was  forced  to  draw  it  for  himself.  "  Near  the  close  of 
the  winter,  the  machine  was  so  nearly  completed  as  to  leave 
no  doubt  of  its  success."  Mrs.  Greene  was  naturally  eager  to 
communicate  to  her  friends  the  fact  of  an  invention  which 
promised  at  once  a  crop  suitable  to  the  soil,  occupation  for 


304  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

their  hands,  and  immense  wealth,  as  the  result  of  the  extend- 
ed culture  of  an  article  which  had  been  thought  of  little  worth. 
She  invited  to  her  house  gentlemen  of  distinction  from  different 
parts  of  the  State,  and  conducted  her  assembled  guests  to  the 
room  in  which  they  saw  with  astonishment  a  machine  which 
promised  such  splendid  results  for  all  their  interests. 

Mr.  Whitney  was  at  once  urged  to  receive  a  patent.  His 
reply  was  prophetic  of  what  actually  occurred,  and  was  in 
substance,  that  the  introduction  of  a  new  invention,  the  pro- 
tection of  it  against  encroachments  of  interested  and  unprin- 
cipled men,  was  an  enterprise  of  doubtful  success ;  and  that 
rather  than  incur  the  hazards  incident  to  it,  he  preferred  to 
strive  for  the  surer  rewards  attendant  upon  his  contemplated 
profession.  This  remark  was  sagacious  and  prophetic,  for 
after  being  overruled  in  his  decision,  and  persuaded  to  embark 
his  time  and  his  energies  to  the  introduction  of  his  machine, 
under  the  protection  of  a  patent,  and  after  spending  years  of 
vexation  and  toil  of  body  and  spirit,  in  the  effort  to  secure  to 
himself  some  profitable  return  for  his  service  to  his  country, 
he  was  forced  to  retire  from  the  contest,  with  the  persuasion 
that  the  effort  had  been  a  fruitless  one ;  that  what  he  gained 
by  strife  and  determined  perseverance,  was  no  more  than 
an  equivalent  for  what  he  actually  expended  in  the  efforts  to 
secure  to  hinself  his  rights  ;  the  actual  loss  of  time  in  energy, 
which,  if  undistracted,  might  have  been  profitably  directed  to 
other  pursuits — of  health,  and  even  of  life,  being  reckoned  only 
as  a  small  item  in  the  calculation. 

His  determination  on  this  subject  was  changed  principally 
it  is  believed,  by  the  agency  of  Mr.  Miller,  who  entered  into 
copartnership  with  him  for  the  construction  and  vending  of 
these  machines,  of  which  the  profits  were  to  be  equally  di- 
vided. The  machine  were  to  be  patented.  The  necessary 
funds  for  the  business  was  to  be  furnished  by  Miller.  The 


HISTORY   OF   THE   COTTON   GIN.  305 

instrument  of  tins  copartnership  is  dated  May  27,  1793.  But 
the  invention  could  not  be  kept  a  secret  till  it  should  be  pro- 
tected by  a  patent.  Great  numbers  of  persons  flocked  from 
all  parts  of  the  State  to  see  the  new  invention  ;  and  when  it 
was  not  deemed  prudent  to  allow  access  to  the  machine,  the 
building  was  broken  open  by  night  and  the  new  cotton-gin 
was  carried  off,  so  that  before  the  model  could  be  finished, 
and  the  letters  patent  could  be  secured,  the  invention  was 
put  in  operation  and  several  machines  were  constructed. 

The  petition  for  a  patent  was  presented  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  June  20,  It93.  Mr.  Jefferson  at  once 
took  a  strong  interest  in  the  invention  and  its  originator,  and 
assured  Mr.  Whitney,  that  his  request  should  be  granted  as 
soon  as  the  model  should  be  lodged  at  the  patent  office.  In 
consequence  of  unavoidable  delays,  however,  the  patent  was 
not  secured  in  form  till  several  months  afterwards. 

It  would  seem,  that  with  the  protection  and  power  of  a  pat- 
ent, for  a  machine  so  certain  to  be  used  and  to  increase  the 
demand  for  itself  by  creating  a  new  staple  of  the  country,  the 
road  to  affluence  would  be  short  and  easy.  But  events  issued 
far  otherwise.  Obstacles  the  most  trying  and  depressing  at 
onco  arose,  and  with  them  the  persevering  spirit  of  Whitney 
was  summoned  to  contend  during  the  entire  period  of  fourteen 
years  allowed  him,  by  the  patent  law.  The  history  of  this 
period  is  a  history  of  vexation,  disappointment,  and  of 
wrong — not  indeed  of  wrong  on  the  part  of  those  who  occa- 
sioned it ;  that  was  in  all  or  in  most  cases,  deliberate  and 
known,  but  which  to  him  who  suffered  it,  brought  all  the  pain- 
ful consequences  of  such  wrong. 

We  cannot  go  into  a  detailed  history  of  the  obstacles  against 
which  he  was  called  to  struggle.  A  few  of  the  facts  only  can 
be  given,  and  these  only  in  a  summary  way.  A  prominent 
cause  of  these  may  be  found  in  the  plan  adopted  by  the  part- 


306  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

ners,  to  control  and  manage  the  business  themselves,  by  erect- 
ing machines  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  gin  the  cotton 
at  a  certain  rate  per  pound,  or  to  buy  the  cotton  before  it  was 
separated,  and  then  to  control,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  whole 
crop  in  the  market.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  tempting  this  plan 
must  have  seemed  to  the  eyes  of  Whitney's  sanguine  partner ; 
how  certain  to  realize  immense  and  sudden  wealth ;  and  how 
likely,  on  the  other  hand,  to  arouse  the  jealous  antagonism 
of  the  planters  on  whose  eyes  were  also  beginning  to  dawn 
bright  visions  of  the  wealth,  which  they  too  might  realize 
through  this  new  channel.  A  proposition  which  might  seem 
to  appropriate  too  large  a  portion  of  the  profits  would  be 
likely  to  sharpen  their  doubts  of  the  originality  of  the  inven- 
tion, and  to  blunt  their  sense  of  justice  in  using  the  cotton  gin 
wherever  it  could  be  found,  or  whoever  might  be  in  law  its 
proprietor.  The  recent  enactments  of  the  patent  law,  for  it 
was  passed  in  the  early  part  of  1793,  the  year  in  which 
Whitney's  application  was  made,  might  also  have  contributed 
to  the  difficuties  with  which  Whitney  was  called  to  contend. 
The  law  which  secures  to  an  inventor  his  rights  is  less  readily 
appreciated  and  respected,  than  one  which  guards  national 
property,  or  bodily  life.  Besides,  under  a  government  so  re- 
cent as  that  of  the  Union,  the  impost  of  such  a  law  was  yet  to 
be  settled  by  actual  decisions,  and  its  applications  to  be 
tested  by  verdicts  of  juries.  At  this  time  also  money  was 
scarce,  and  rates  of  interest  were  high,  so  that  at  the  time 
when  a  loud  call  was  beginning  to  be  made  for  the  machines, 
which  were  to  be  manufactured  by  Miller  and  Whitney,  the 
partners  were  themselves  embarrassed  for  the  want  of  capital 
with  which  to  make  them.  Then  again,  at  one  time,  Whitney 
was  prostrated  by  disease  also ;  and  at  a  second,  both  being  im- 
portant crises  in  the  fortunes  of  the  infant  enterprise,  his  work- 
men also  were  disabled  by  a  fatal  epidemic,  in  July  1794,  just 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COTTON  GIN.  307 

at  the  time  when  the  first  cotton  crop  was  maturing  for  the  new 
machine,  and  when  Miller  was  writing  to  Whitney  that  within 
a  year  from  that  time  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  gins  must 
be  completed  and  transported  to  the  south.  He  adds,  "  The 
people  of  the  country  are  running  mad  for  them,  and  much 
can  be  said  to  justify  their  importunity.  When  the  present 
crop  is  harvested,  there  will  be  a  real  property  of  at  least  fifty 
thousand  dollars  lying  useless,  unless  we  can  enable  the  hold- 
ers to  bring  it  to  market." 

Early  in  the  year  following,  on  arriving  at  New  Haven, 
from  New  York,  where  he  had  been  detained  by  a  lingering 
illness,  he  was  informed  that  on  the  day  before,  his  shop,  with 
all  his  machinery  and  papers,  had  been  consumed  by  fire.  At 
this  time,  under  the  pressure  of  necessity,  (which  is  the 
mother  of  all  sorts  of  inventions,  some  of  which  are  not  the 
most  honest)  the  necessity  arising  from  the  increased  culture 
of  cotton,  which  had  been  immensely  stimulated  by  the  pros- 
pect from  the  invention,  two  rival  machines  appeared  in  the 
field  to  dispute  the  claims  of  Whitney's.  The  one  of  these 
was  the  roller-gin,  which,  though  it  executed  the  work  of 
cleansing  the  cotton  very  imperfectly,  yet,  in  the  exigency, 
found  many  advocates.  At  all  events,  it  diverted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  from  Whitney's  patented  machine,  and 
weakened  their  moral  sense  in  respect  to  any  peculiar  claims 
on  his  part.  The  other  was  the  saw-gin,  which  applied  one 
of  the  principles  peculiar  to  Whitney's,  with  this  difference, 
that  the  teeth  were  cut  from  a  continuous  plate  of  metal,  in- 
stead of  being  inserted  as  wires.  This  idea,  by  the  way,  had 
occurred  early  to  Whitney,  as  was  established  afterwards  by 
legal  proof.  Here,  then,  was  a  machine  which  was  really  his, 
and  against  which  he  brought  his  suits,  and  at  last  enforced 
the  rights  of  his  patent.  But  as  yet,  and  for  years,  while  the 
question  was  undecided,  this  was  as  good  as  the  patent  one, 


308  COTTOX  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

and  many  an  honest  man  might  think  himself  justified  in 
using  it.  This  machine  made  its  appearance  in  1795.  The 
year  after — for  each  year  brought  to  Whitney  its  new  calam- 
ity— the  fatal  intelligence  was  brought  from  England  that  the 
manufacturers  rejected  the  cotton  cleaned  by  the  gin,  because 
the  staple  was  supposed  to  be  injured.  This  at  once  lowered 
the  price  of  his  cotton  in  the  market,  and  gave  boldness  to  the 
trespassers  upon  his  rights.  At  this  moment  the  company 
had  thirty  gins  stationed  at  eight  different  places  in  the  State 
of  Georgia,  and  $10,000  invested  in  real-estate,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  their  enlerprise.  Near  the  close  of  the  following 
year  the  stout  heart  of  Whitney  begins  to  yield,  and  he  writes 
as  follows :  "  I  have  labored  hard  against  the  strong  current 
of  disappointment,  which  has  been  threatening  to  carry  us 
down  the  cataract ;  but  I  have  labored  with  a  shattered  oar, 
and  struggled  in  vain,  unless  some  speedy  relief  is  obtained." 
And  in  the  same  letter — "  I  have  sacrificed  to  it  [our  business] 
other  objects,  from  which,  before  this  time,  I  might  certainly 
have  gained  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  dollars."  During  this 
year,  however,  the  reports  from  England,  in  respect  to  the 
quality  of  the  cotton  from  the  new  machines  were  entirely 
reversed,  and  a  preference  began  to  be  given  to  it  over  every 
other  in  the  market. 

But  the  peculiar  calamity  of  this  year  (1797)  was,  that  the 
first  trial  of  their  patent  at  law  which  could  be  obtained,  issued 
against  them.  Notwithstanding  the  charge  of  the  judge  was 
pointedly  in  their  favor,  and  the  defendants  expected  a  verdict 
of  heavy  damages,  the  plaintiffs  lost  their  case,  and  an  appli- 
cation for  a  new  trial  was  denied.  Thus,  after  four  years  had 
been  consumed  in  a  protracted  effort  to  test  the  validity  of  the 
patent,  at  the  first  issue  that  was  joined  there  was  an  entire 
failure.  Vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  bring  another  suit  to 
trial  at  Savannah,  in  the  year  following,  1798.  Witnesses 


HISTORY   OF  THE   COTTON  GIN.  309 

were  assembled  from  various  and  distant  parts  of  the  State, 
and  at  great  expense  ;  but  the  judge  did  not  appear,  and  the 
trial  wa's  deferred.  About  a  year  after,  Mr.  Miller  seems  to 
have  given  up  all  hopes  of  defending  the  patent  in  the  State 
of  Georgia;  and  it  may  easily  be  imagined  how,  in  a  new 
State,  under  the  new  federal  government,  with  this  delay  of 
an  enforcement  of  the  right  for  years,  the  right  might  be 
worthless,  especially  as  the  payment  of  claims  which  were  al- 
lowed might  be  put  off  for  four  years,  when  they  would  expire 
by  the  then  existing  statute  of  limitations.  In  South  Carolina 
a  different  plan  was  adopted,  at  the  suggestion  of  influential 
planters.  The  proprietors  of  the  cotton  gin  proposed  to  the 
legislature,  to  relinquish  their  patent-right  for  the  use  of  the 
citizens  of  the  State,  in  consideration  of  $100,000.  This 
proposal  was  made  in  December,  1801.  The  legislature  of- 
fered $50,000  ;  $20,000  to  be  paid  in  hand,  and  the  remainder 
in  three  annual  instalments  of  $10,OCO  each.  This  offer  was 
accepted,  though  Mr.  Whitney  writes  in  respect  to  it :  "  This 
is  selling  the  right  at  a  great  sacrifice.  If  a  regular  course  of 
law  had  been  pursued,  from  two  to  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  would  undoubtedly  have  been  recovered.  The  use  of 
the  machine  here  is  amazingly  extensive,  and  the  value  of  it 
is  beyond  calculation.  It  may,  without  exaggeration,  be  said 
to  have  raised  the  value  of  seven  eighths  of  all  the  three 
Southern  States  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  per  cent.  We  get 
but  a  song  for  it  in  comparison  with  the  worth  of  the  thing ; 
but  it  is  securing  something." 

Thus,  after  more  than  seven  years  after  the  patent  was 
issued,  and  when  its  time  to  run  had  more  than  half  expired, 
it  returned  to  its  owners  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  hand,  with 
the  promise  of  thirty  thousand  more.  It  would  be  an  insult 
to  the  common  sense  of  our  readers,  to  suppose  it  necessary  to 
argue  in  detail  the  proposition  that  far  more  than  this  might 


310  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

easily  have  been  sunk,  before  this  return,  in  the  expenses  of 
unsuccessful  suits,  and  in  the  unproductive  capital  that  had 
been  invested  in  the  enterprise  of  manufacturing  and  working 
the  gins,  which,  having  no  protection  of  law,  would,  of  course, 
be  of  little  worth  to  their  owners.  A  year  after  the  bargain 
with  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  December,  1802,  the  right 
was  sold  to  North  Carolina,  the  legislature  imposing  an  annual 
tax  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence  on  every  saw,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  patentee.  Some  of  the  gins  contained  forty  saws,  and 
the  tax  was  to  be  collected  for  five  years.  The  cultivation  of 
cotton  was  at  that  time  limited ;  but,  in  consideration  of  the 
use  that  was  made  of  the  gin,  this  was  thought  to  be  the 
most  liberal  compensation  that  was  offered  from  any  service. 
Another  sale,  on  similar  terms,  was  made  to  the  State  of 
Tennessee  the  year  following,  1803,  the  legislature  imposing 
an  annual  tax  of  37  J  cents  on  every  saw,  for  four  years.* 

This  bright  dawning  of  a  better  day,  though  deferred  so  long, 
was  not  unclouded,  even  when  it  at  last  appeared.  While  Mr. 
Whitney  was  negotiating  with  North  Carolina,  he  learned  that 
South  Carolina  had  repented  of  its  just  resolve — had  suspended 
the  payment  of  the  balance  due  him,  and  had  instituted  a  suit 
for  the  recovery  of  what  he  had  already  received.  At  about 
the  same  time,  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  in  his  annual  mes- 
sage, took  very  decided  ground  against  any  grant  to  the 

*  We  have  before  us  the  Aurora  and  General  Advertiser,  published  daily 
at  Frankford,  dated  Sept.  3,  1802,  in  which  there  is  a  detailed  account  of  a 
meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  July  21,  of  which  General 
Andrew  Jackson  was  chairman,  and  the  account  of  which  is  signed  by  him  as 
such.  After  a  preamble,  the  meeting  resolved,  "  That  it  will  tend  much  to 
the  agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  this  State,  that  the  legislature,  at 
their  next  session,  purchase  the  patent-right  of  the  said  saw  gin,  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  its  citizens,  and  lay  a  tax  on  the  makers  and  users  of  said  gins, 
to  discharge  the  said  sum  which  may  be  contracted,  to  be  given  to  the 
patentees  for  the  patent-right  aforesaid,"  &c.,  &c. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   COTTON   GIN.  311 

patentee.  A  committee  of  the  legislature,  to  whom  this  part 
of  the  message  was  referred,  reported  strongly  in  its  favor,  and 
urged  united  action,  on  the  part  of  the  then  Southern  States, 
[Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,]  to  resist 
the  grievance  of  the  patent,  as  likely  to  depress  "  the  culture 
and  cleaning  of  the  precious  and  increasing  staple,"  or  to  pe- 
tition the  General  Government  to  make  just  compensation  to 
the  inventor.  Tennessee  followed  the  example  of  South 
Carolina,  and  suspended  the  payment  of  the  stipulated  tax  ; 
while  North  Carolina  adopted  a  resolution  "  that  the  contract 
ought  to  be  fulfilled  with  punctuality  and  good  faith."  The 
grounds  of  this  hostile  movement  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina, 
were,  first,  a  technical  failure  on  the  part  of  the  patentees  to 
fulfil  some  stipulation  in  the  contract ;.  and,  second,  a  real  sus- 
picion of  the  originality  of  the  invention,  it  being  contended 
all  over  the  South  that  such  a  machine  had  been  seen  in  use 
in  Switzerland  forty  years  before,  for  the  purpose  of  picking 
rags  to  make  lint  and  paper.  The  tide  in  South  Carolina, 
however,  soon  turned,  and  in  the  year  1804  the  legislature 
confirmed  their  original  contract.  About  this  time  Mr.  Miller 
died,  leaving  Whitney  to  struggle  alone.  He  at  last  triumphed 
in  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  obtained  a  decision  vindicating 
his  patent,  in  December,  1807,  just  about  a  year  before  the 
expiration  of  his  right ;  and  the  year  following,  as  the  right 
was  expiring,  two  other  suits  were  gained.  In  all  of  them 
the  originality  of  the  invention  was  triumphantly  established, 
and  the  rights  of  the  patentee  were  clearly  asserted.  These 
decisions  were,  however,  too  late.  But  the  fact  that  they  had 
been  delayed  so  long,  was  not  the  most  painful  aggravation. 
This  arose  from  the  circumstance  that,  for  nearly  thirteen 
years,  his  time  and  physical  strength,  and  his  mental  energy, 
were  absorbed  in  this  vexatious  enterprise  of  contending  for 
his  rights.  More  than  sixty  suits  had  been  brought,  before  a 


312  COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 

single  decision  was  obtained  which  vindicated  these  rights. 
He  had  made  six  journeys  from  New-Haven  to  Georgia — sev- 
eral by  land — some  of  which  involved  the  severest  exposure 
to  his  health  and  the  hazard  of  his  life.  It  is  the  testimony 
of  a  gentleman  who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr.  Whit- 
ney's affairs  at  the  South,  and  whom  he  consulted  as  a  legal 
adviser,  that,  "  in  all  his  experience  in  the  thorny  profession  of 
the  law,  he  had  never  seen  such  a  case  of  perseverance  under 
such  persecutions ;  nor,"  he  adds,  "  do  I  believe  that  I  ever 
knew  any  other  man  who  could  have  met  them  with  equal 
coolness  and  firmness,  or  who  would  finally  have  obtained  even 
the  partial  success  which  he  had.  He  always  called  on  me  in 
New  York,  on  his  way  South,  when  going  to  attend  his  endless 
trials,  and  to  me-et  the  mischievous  contrivances  of  men  who 
seem  inexhaustible  in  their  resources  of  evil.  Even  now,  after 
thirty  years,  my  head  aches  to  recollect  his  narrations  of  new 
trials,  fresh  disappointments,  and  accumulated  wrongs." 

In  1812,  Mr.  Whitney  applied  to  Congress  for  the  renewal 
of  his  patent.  His  memorial  is  long  and  able,  stating  the  pain- 
ful story  of  his  struggles,  and  the  little  profit  that  he  had 
received.  He  says,  that  "  from  no  State  had  he  received  the 
amount  of  half  a  cent  per  pound  on  the  cotton  cleaned  with 
his  machine  in  one  year.  Estimating  the  value  of  the  labor 
of  one  man  at  twenty  cents  per  day,  the  whole  amount  which 
had  been  received  by  him  for  his  invention,  was  not  equal  to 
the  value  of  the  labor  saved  in  one  hour  by  his  machines  then 
in  use  in  the  United  States."  "  The  invention  has  already 
trebled  the  value  of  the  land  through  a  great  extent  of  terri- 
tory, and  the  degree  to  which  the  cultivation  of  cotton  may 
still  be  augmented,  is  altogether  incalculable."  "  In  short,"  to 
quote  the  language  of  Judge  Johnson,  of  South  Carolina,  "  if 
we  should  assert  that  the  benefits  of  this  invention  exceed  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  we  can  prove  the  assertion  by 


HISTORY   OF   THE   COTTON   GIN.  313 

correct  calculation."  "  There  is  no  probability  that  the  patentee, 
if  the  term  of  his  patent  were  extended  for  twenty  years,  would 
ever  obtain  for  his  invention  one-half  as  much  as  many  an 
individual  will  gain  by  the  use  of  it.  Up  to  the  present  time, 
the  whole  amount  of  what  he  has  acquired  from  this  source, 
(after  deducting  his  expenses,)  does  not  exceed  one-half  the 
sum  which  a  single  individual  has  gained  by  the  use  of  the 
machine  in  one  year.  It  is  true  that  considerable  sums  have 
been  obtained  from  some  of  the  States  where  the  machine  is 
used ;  but  no  small  portion  of  these  sums  has  been  expended 
in  prosecuting  his  claim  in  a  State  where  nothing  has  been 
obtained,  and  where  his  machine  has  been  used  to  the  greatest 
advantage." 

This  memorial  was  sustained  by  several  distinguished  in- 
dividuals from  the  cotton-growing  districts,  but  it  was  not 
granted,  and  it  was  never  renewed. 

This  closes  the  history  of  the  cotton  gin,  so  far  as  the  con- 
nection of  its  inventor  with  it  is  concerned.  But  it  does  not 
finish  the  history  of  Whitney's  services  to  his  country.  In 
the  year  1798,  despairing  of  anything  of  consequence  from  his 
cotton  gin,  Whitney  embarked  in  a  new  enterprise,  that  of 
manufacturing  arms  for  the  government.  He  was  ignorant  of 
the  details  of  the  business,  and  as  yet  had  no  works  at  com- 
mand, no  capital,  and  no  workmen,  and  yet  he  ventured  with 
clear  and  well  sustained  confidence  in  his  own  resources,  into 
a  business  that  was  complicated,  embarrassing,  and  new.  The 
result  was,  the  most  complete  success — or  rather  it  might  be 
said  that  lie  created  this  branch  of  manufactures  anew.  His 
methods  were  entirely  new  and  peculiar,  both  in  the  allotment 
of  the  work,  and  in  doing  very  much  by  machinery,  of  various 
and  complicated  construction,  that  had  hitherto  been  done  by 
the  file,  with  an  experienced  eye  and  hand.  The  result  was, 
that  the  several  pieces  of  a  musket*,  matfe  at  his  establishment, 
14 


314  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

were  so  exactly  alike,  that  the  smallest  screw  or  spring  fitted 
for  one,  is  equally  fitted  for  any  and  every  other.  These  im- 
provements were  introduced  against  much  skepticism  and 
many  obstacles,  into  all  the  public  and  private  armories  of  the 
Union ;  and  it  is  mainly  owing  to  Whitney  that  the  manufac- 
ture of  arms  by  this  government,  is  unsurpassed  in  any  public 
armories  in  the  world.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  exhibition  in  the 
manufacture  of  metals,  that  is  more  beautiful  and  exciting, 
than  that  furnished  in  the  armories  at  Springfield  and  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  it  is  Eli  Whitney  to  whom  these  improvements  are 
owing.  It  was  admitted  by  a  former  Secretary  of  War,  in 
conversation  with  Mr.  Whitney,  that  the  annual  saving,  years 
ago,  at  the  public  armories,  in  consequence  of  Whitney's  im- 
provements, was  more  than  $25,000  a  year.  It  was  from  this 
business  that  Whitney  derived  the  greater  portion  of  the  estate 
which  he  accumulated ;  but  it  is  believed  that  this  estate 
amounted  to  hardly  more  than  he  enabled  his  country  to  save, 
at  this  moment,  in  her  armories,  in  a  single  year. 

These  improvements  are  not  necessarily  confined  to  the 
manufacture  of  arms,  but  are  applicable,  and  have  been  ap- 
plied to  the  working  of  metals  of  every  kind,  and  Whitney's 
memorials  may  be  said  to  exist  in  every  machine-shop  in  the 
land. 

The  incidental  benefits  conferred  by  him  upon  the  entire 
circle  of  the  mechanic  arts,  and  the  interests  connected  with 
them,  are  not  lightly  to  be  esteemed.  The  elevation  of  these 
arts,  and  of  those  connected  with  them,  in  the  estimation  of 
the  public,  by  the  devotion  to  their  advancement  of  so  high  a 
genius,  and  by  the  manifest  demonstration  of  the  fact,  that  the 
highest  and  most  thorough  mastery  of  science  strengthens 
rather  than  weakens  the  hand  of  art,  are  felt,  after  the  man 
who  has  exerted  these  influences  is  gone,  and  form  no  incon- 
siderable item  in  the  sum  total  of  the  good  which  he  has  con- 


HISTORY   OF   THE    COTTON   GIX.  315 

fcrred  upon  his  race.  Tt  was  ccrtninly  true  in  the  case  of 
Whitney,  that  his  personal  influence,  and  the  weight  of  his 
example,  were  thus  felt  in  his  life-time,  and  have  not  ceased 
since  his  death.  It  is  owing  to  his  influence,  and  that  of  Hill- 
house,  men  of  singular  kindred  spirits,  in  respect  to  the  de- 
votion of  energy  and  genius  to  the  general  improvement  of 
the  otitward  interests  of  man,  that  the  City  of  Elms  is  so  at- 
tractive to  the  eye  of  the  stranger,  in  the  outward  indications 
of  neatness  and  taste,  which  pertain  to  elevate  every  dwelling, 
and  are  seen  along  every  street,  and  that  these  external  ap- 
pearances are  found,  on  a  close  observation,  to  be  so  sure  an 
index  of  the  intelligent  industry,  and  the  frugal  thrift  of  the 
citizens. 

But  the  great  gift  of  Whitney  to  his  country  and  his  race, 
was  the  gift  of  the  cotton  gin ;  and  it  is  for  this  that  he  will 
deserve  to  be  cherished  longest  in  their  honorable  remem- 
brance, and  in  their  grateful  homage.  We  have  seen  that 
there  was  something  singularly  interesting  in  the  manner  and 
circumstances  of  the  invention.  By  far  the  greater  number 
of  inventions,  come  of  accidental  suggestion,  or  are  completed 
by  gradual  improvements,  or  result  from  the  application  of 
machinery  already  in  being  to  a  new  purpose ;  but  in  the  case 
of  this  of  Whitney's,  there  was  the  contemplation  of  a  great 
desideratum,  proposed  as  the  worthy  subject  for  a  trained  and 
powerful  genius ;  then  there  was  the  cheerful  devotion  of  the 
mind  to  meet  this  want,  and  then  the  speedy,  the  easy,  and 
the  successful  triumph. 

But  the  value  of  the  gift  deserves  bur  consideration.  We 
have  spoken  of  it  as  a  gift  of  Whitney  to  his  country  and  to 
his  race.  What  then  did  Whitney  give  to  his  country  ? 

He  gave  to  his  country,  directly,  all  the  increased  value 
which  the  public  lands  of  the  cotton-growing  States  have  re- 
ceived by  the  invention.  So  soon  as  this  invention  was  made 


316  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

known,  and  its  adequacy  was  fully  established,  the  inland 
districts  of  the  south  and  south-west  at  once  rose  immensely 
in  value,  and  the  extensive  public  lands  of  the  United  States 
rose  with  them.  Whatever,  therefore,  the  government,  as  a 
direct  owner  of  property,  which  it  offers  for  sale,  has  received, 
or  is  yet  to  receive  from  this  advance  upon  its  property,  that 
has  been  and  will  be  put  into  her  treasury,  by  the  gift  of  Eli 
Whitney ;  of  what  the  value  of  his  gift  to  her  in  this  form  has 
been,  and  is  to  be,  some  idea  may  be  formed  from  a  remark 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Whitney,  not  long  after  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana,  that  the  increased  value  of  the  lands  of  the 
United  States,  in  consequence  of  the  cotton  gin,  had  at  that 
time  (this  was  ten  years  after  the  invention),  been  more  than 
sufficient  to  pay  the  cost  of  that  territory.  How  many  times 
fifteen  millions  of  dollars  have  since  been  added  to  the  value 
of  the  public  domain,  by  the  increased  culture  of  cotton,  and 
the  widening  market  for  it,  can  neither  be  estimated  nor  con- 
jectured. 

Whitney  gave  to  his  country  its  greatest  staple  production, 
and  the  means  of  an  extensive  and  profitable  trade  with  Eng- 
land. Though  the  cotton  plant  had  been  known  before  the 
days  of  Herodotus,  and  though  the  green  seed  or  upland  cotton 
had  been  known  from  this  early  period,  yet,  as  an  article  of 
commerce,  it  never  had  been  known  till  this  method  of  clean- 
ing was  discovered.  A  few  statistics  need  only  be  given  to 
show  the  immense  value  of  the  production,  which  was  created 
by  this  invention,  and  of  the  trade  which  has  grown  out  of  it. 
In  the  year  1791,  the  whole  cotton  crop  of  the  United  States 
was  2,000,000  Ibs.  In  1845,  it  was  more  than  1,000,000,000. 
In  1791  the  United  States  produced  ^  of  the  cotton  produced 
in  the  world.  In  1845,  it  produced  more  than  I  of  the  pro- 
duct of  the  world. 

1793,   the   year   of    the   invention,   the   whole   crop   was 


HISTORY  OF   THE   COTTON  GIN.  317 

5,000,000  Ibs.,  and  the  quantity  exported  was  487,600  Ibs. 
In  1794,  the  year  after,  the  crop  was  8,000,000,  and  the  ex- 
portation was  1,601,760  Ibs.  In  1800,  six  years  after,  the 
crop  was  35,000,000,  and  17,789,803  were  exported.  In  1810, 
two  years  before  Whitney  applied  for  the  renewal  of  his  pa- 
tent, the  crop  was  85,000,000  Ibs. ;  and  of  upland  cotton, 
84,657,384  Ibs.  were  exported.  In  1845,  the  entire  crop  was 
1,029,850,000  Ibs. ;  862,580,000  Ibs.  were  exported,  and  167,- 
270,000  Ibs.  were  consumed  at  home.  Cotton  has  been  for 
many  years  not  only  one  of  the  staples  but  tlie  great  staple 
for  export.  For  many  years  past,  it  has  constituted  from  one 
half  to  seven-tenths  of  the  entire  exports  of  the  Union. 

These  facts  speak  for  themselves.  They  tell  us  that  the 
planters  of  the  south  owe  it  to  the  cotton  gin,  that,  for  half  a 
century  past,  they  have  been  able  to  raise  and  send  to  mar- 
ket their  great  stapl3,  and  that  it  is  to  Whitney  that  they  are 
indebted  for  the  great  estates  they  have  accumulated,  and  the 
ample  incomes  which  they  have  so  generally  expended. 
Whatever  wealth  the  country  has  received  in  the  increase  of 
individual  estates,  the  country  owes  to  the  inventor  of  the 
cotton  gin.  These  statistics  tell  us,  that  whatever  has  been 
made  by  the  immense  trade  between  this  country  and  its 
great  customer  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  is  mainly  owing 
to  the  same  invention.  The  shipper  of  the  cotton  owes  to  him 
the  profits  on  his  freights.  The  importer  the  profits  on  goods 
which  he  has  been  able  to  buy  with  cotton ;  and  the  govern- 
ment, the  revenue  which  she  has  exacted  on  these  goods  ;  as 
well  as  the  immense  advantage  which  she  has  gained  from 
having  so  abundant  a  staple  of  her  own,  with  which  to  pay 
for  the  imports  which  she  has  received.  The  manufacturers 
of  cotton  too,  whether  at  the  north,  they  drive  their  magnifi- 
cent establishments,  receive  their  splendid  dividends;  or 
whether  at  the  south,  they  are  inspired  by  the  hope  of  the 


318  COTTON  PLANTER'S  MANUAL. 

same  success,  in  their  vigorous,  though  infant  enterprises;  the 
busy  troops  of  operators  whom  they  pay,  and  the  neighbor- 
ing farmers  who  find  a  ready  market  for  their  produce,  all 
owe  it  to  the  same  genius,  that  they  have  the  material  art, 
of  which  to  bring  these  larger  or  humbler  returns.  All  that 
prosperity,  too,  which  results  from  the  combined  and  har- 
monious working  of  the  producing,  the  commercial,  and  the 
manufacturing  interests,  as  far  as  these  interests  have  been 
dependent  on  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  has  received  its  im 
pulse  from  this  invention,  and  owes  its  acknowledgment  to 
Eli  Whitney. 

We  have  seen  what  Whitney  has  given  to  his  country. 
The  question  is  very  natural,  what  has  he  received  jfrora  that 
country  ?  It  was  his  own  testimony,  as  asserted  by  an  inti- 
mate friend,  Professor  Silliman,  and  that  testimony  was  given 
in  his  hearing  near  the  close  of  life,  that  the  disease,  which 
cut  short  his  life,  was  brought  on  by  exposure  and  fatigue 
during  the  last  of  his  land  journeys,  to  assert  his  just  claims 
so  long  injuriously  frustrated.  He  received  then,  first  of  all, 
the  termination  of  his  life  in  the  midst  of  those  domestic  en- 
joyments which  had  been  so  long  deferred  in  consequence  of 
the  delay  of  his  just  rights,  and  in  the  possession  of  that  for- 
tune, the  acquisition  of  which  he  had  been  forced  to  put  off 
till  the  noon  of  his  days. 

So  far  as  a  pecuniary  return  is  concerned,  he  received 
nothing  ;  for  it  was  also  his  dying  testimony,  that  "  all  he  had 
received  for  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  had  not  more  than 
compensated  him  for  the  enormous  expenses  which  he  had 
incurred,  and  for  the  time  which  he  had  devoted,  during  many 
of  the  best  years  of  his  life,  in  the  prosecution  of  this  subject." 
On  such  a  subject  as  this,  Mr.  Whitney  was  not  likely  to 
exaggerate ;  his  mind  was  too  self-possessed,  and  his  integrity 
too  uncorrupt  to  allow  him  to  yield  to  the  glooin  of  disappoint- 


HISTORY   OF   THE   COTTON  GIN.  319 

ment,  or  the  violence  of  passion.  His  cheerful  application  to 
new  fields  of  enterprise  ;  his  ready  and  generous  forwardness 
to  serve  his  friends,  his  country,  and  his  race,  with  no  pros- 
pect of  return,  and  the  courteous  hospitality  with  which  he 
received  and  returned  the  warm  esteem  of  gentlemen  from  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  this  esteem  was  so 
lavishly  bestowed  upon  him — all  show  that  his  views  of  this 
subject  were  neither  morbid  nor  selfish.  When,  therefore,  he 
said,  as  he  did  deliberately,  that  he  "felt  that  his  just  claims 
on  the  cotton-growing  States,  especially  on  those  that  had 
made  him  no  returns  for  this  invention,  so  important  to  this 
country,  were  still  unsatisfied,  and  that  both  justice  and  honor 
required  that  compensation  should  be  made" — we  should  feel 
assured  that  his  testimony  but  expressed  the  truth  in  the 
case — if  all  the  particulars  which  we  have  enumerated  did  not 
both  suggest  and  confirm  the  same  conclusion. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  at  lenghth  into  the  reasons  of  his 
failure  to  receive  the  just  compensation  for  his  eminent  ser- 
vices. Many  can  be  imagined  in  the  then  infant  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  unsettled  judgments  of  men  in  regard  to  the 
rights  of  discoverers,  and  the  unequal  action  of  patents,  and 
in  their  jealous  opposition  to  monopolies,  without  supposing  a 
decided  and  deliberate  purpose  to  defraud  or  wrong  a  man 
from  whom  the  gotton-growers  had  received  their  all.  We  are 
quite  certain  that  the  State  of  Georgia,  at  this  moment,  would 
be  as  for  from  such  injustice  as  any  other  in  the  Union.  And 
if  the  question  were  presented  to  her  now,  whether  she  owed 
no  debt  to  the  inventor,  she  could  not,  in  the  view  of  her 
whitening  cotton  fields,  and  in  the  hearing  of  the  noise  of  lier 
own  cotton  mills,  but  generously  acknowledge  the  obligation. 
It  is  not,  however,  an  obligation  for  any  one  State.  The 
whole  Union  is  too  much  indebted  to  the  great  invention  to 
be  content  to  leave  the  obligation  to  be  cancelled  by  any  one 


320  COTTON   PLANTER'S   MANUAL. 

of  its  sisterhood.  The  name  of  Whitney  is  too  intimately  as- 
sociated with  her  honor,  and  with  her  unexampled  growth 
and  prosperity,  to  he  remembered  by  her  with  any  other  than 
the  profoundest  gratitude. 

We  do  not  approve  of  lavish  or  indiscriminate  testimonials 
to  the  honor  of  the  living  or  the  deceased,  who  have  deserved 
well  of  their  country  ;  but  that  such  a  testimonial  ought  to  be 
rendered  to  such  a  man,  who  has  added  uncounted  millions  to 
her  wealth,  is  too  clear  to  be  argued.  We  are  bold  to  say, 
that  to  no  man,  whether  living  or  dead,  does  she  owe  more  for 
her  physical  prosperity  and  wealth,  than  to  the  subject  of 
these  remarks.  We  trust  the  time  may  come  when  an  op- 
portunity will  be  furnished  to  repay  this  obligation,  and  the 
name  of  Whitney  shall  not  be  coupled  with  the  ingratitude  or 
neglect  of  this  great  and  free  people. 

Upon  his  tomb-stone  there  is  the  following  appropriate  in- 
scription:— "ELI  WHITNEY,  the  inventor  of  the  cotton  gin. 
Of  useful  science  and  arts,  the  efficient  patron  and  improver. 
In  the  social  relations  of  life,  a  model  of  excellence.  While 
private  affection  weeps  at  his  tomb,  his  country  honors  his 
memory."  His  country  honors  his  memory  !  Let  it  be  seen 
that  she  does,  not  by  idly  bending  over  his  tomb,  nor  by  laud- 
ing his  name  by  verbal  adulation,  but  with  generous  and 
united  zeal  testifying  to  his  family,  some  substantial  token, 
that  she  appreciates  the  genius  and  services  of  the  man  who 
has  contributed  so  much  to  her  prosperity. — Democratic 
Review. 


COTTOI  CULTURE. 

By  JOSEPH    B.    LYMAISJ. 

WITH  AN  ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER  ON 


By  J.  B.  SYPHEB. 
OOINTTEIVTS. 

PART   I. 

•the   Cotton  Farm  — Its  StocJs,   Implements,   and 

Laborers. 

Preparation  of  Soil  and  Planting. 
Row  the  Crop  is  to  be  Cultivated. 
Cotton  Picking. 

Ginning,  Baling,  and  Marketing. 
The  Cotton  Planter's  Calendar. 

PART    II. 
Quality,  Extent,  and  Character  of  Cotton  Land* 

of  North  America, 
Enemies  and  Diseases  of  Cotton. 
Improved  dnd  Scientific  Culture. 
Various  Kinds  of  Cotton  Cultivated  in  the  United 

States. 
Hoiv  to  Realize  the  Most  front  a  Crop :  the  Union 

of  the  Groiving  of  Cotton  ivith  its  Manufacture 

into  Yarns  and  Fabrics. 
Value  of  Cotton  as  a  Plant,  and  the  Uses  to  which 

it  may  be  applied. 
The  Past  and  the  Future  of  Cotton;   its  History 

and  Statistics. 
Practical  Suggestions  to  Various  Classes  of  Persons 

ivho  propose  to  engage  in  Cotton- Growing. 
Cotton-Seed  Oil.    Cotton-Seed  Cake. 

SENT   POST-PAID,   PRICE    $1.50. 
OUAUGE   JTTDD   &  CO., 

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Gardening  for  the  South; 

OR,  HOW  TO  GROW 

VEGETABLES  AND  FRUITS. 

BY  THE  LATE 

•W"i:L:L.I.A.:M:     3ST,     -V^HIITE, 

OF  ATHENS,   GA. 

WITH    ADDITIONS    BY  MR.  J.  VAN  BUREN,  AND    DR.  JAS.    CAMAK. 

Revised   and   Newly    Stereotyped. 

ILLUSTRATED. 

Though  entitled  "  Gardening  for  the  South,"  the  work  is  ono 
the  utility  of  which  is  not  restricted  to  the  South.  It  is  an  admir- 
able treatise  on  gardening  in  general,  and  will  rank  among  the 
most  useful  horticultural  works  of  the  present  day.  Horticultural 
operations  are  clearly  explained,  and  more  in  detail  than  is  usual 
in  works  of  this  kind.  To  those  living  in  the  warmer  portions  of 
the  Union,  the  work  will  be  especially  valuable,  as  it  gives  the 
varieties  of  vegetables  and  fruits  adapted  to  the  climate  and  the 
modes  of  culture  which  it  is  necessary  to  follow. 

COjNTTEiSrTS. 

CHAPTER  I. — Formation  and  Management  of  Gardens  in  General. 

CHAPTER  II. — Soils — Their  Characteristics. 

CHAPTER  III. — The  Improvement  of  the  Soil. 

CHAPTER  IV. — Manures. 

CHAPTER  V. — Manures — Their  Sources  and  Preparation. 

CHAPTER  VI. — Rotation  of  Crops. 

CHAPTER  VII. — Hot-beds,  Cold  Frames,  and  Pits. 

CHAPTER  VIII. — Garden  Implements. 

CHAPTER  IX. — Propagation  of  Plants, 

CHAPTER  X. — Budding  and  Grafting. 

CHAPTER  XI.— Pruning  and  Training. 

CHAPTER  XII . — Transpl  antiu  #. 

CHAPTER  XIII. — Mulching,  Shading,  and  Watering. 

CHAPTER  XIV. — Protection  from  Frost. 

CHAPTER  XV. — Insects  and  Vermin. 

CHAPTER  XVI. — Vegetables— Description  and  Culture. 

CHAPTER  XVII.— Fruits— Varieties  and  Culture. 

SEotfT  POST-PAID.      PRICB  $2. 

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245  Broadway,  New-York 


GARDENING  FOR  PROFIT 

In  the  Market  and  Family  Oardeix 
BY  PETER  HENDERSON. 


This  is  the  first  work  on  Market  Gardening  ever  published  in  thss 
oountry.  Its  author  is  well  known  as  a  market  gardener  of  twenty 
years'  successful  experience.  In  this  work  he  has  recorded  this 
experience,  and  given,  without  reservation,  the  methods  necessary 
to  the  profitable  culture  of  the  commercial  or 


It  is  a  work  for  which  there  has  long  been  a  demand,  and  one 
which  will  commend  itself,  not  only  to  those  who  grow  vegetables 
for  sale,  but  to  the  cultivator  of  the 

FAMILY  GAEDEN, 

to  whom  it  presents  methods  quite  different  from  the  old  ones  gen- 
erally practiced.  It  is  an  ORIGINAL  AND  PURELY  AMERICAN  work,  and 
not  made  up,  as  books  on  gardening  too  often  are,  by  quotations 
from  foreign  authors. 

Every  thing  is  made  perfectly  plain,  and  the  subject  treated  in  all 
its  details,  from  the  selection  of  the  soil  to  preparing  the  products 
for  market. 

CONTENTS. 

Men  fitted  for  the  Business  of  Gardening. 

The  Amount  of  Capital  Required,  and 

"Working  De'orce  per  Acre. 

Profits  of  Market  Gardening. 

Location,  Situation,  and  Laying  Out. 

Boils,  Drainage,  and  Preparation. 

Manures,  Implements. 

Uses  and  Management  of  Cold  Frames. 

Formation  and  Management  of  Hot-bedc. 

Forcing  Fits  or  Green-houses. 

Seeds  and  Seed  Raising. 

How,  When,  and  Where  to  Sow  Soedo. 

Transplanting,  Insects. 

Packing  of  Vegetables  for  Shipping. 

Preservation  of  Vegetables  in  Winter. 

Vegetables,  their  Varieties  and  Cultivation. 

In  the  last  chapter,  the  most  valuable  kinds  are  described,  aad 
the  culture  proper  to  each  is  given  in  detail. 

Sent   post-paid,   price  $I.5O. 
ORANGE    JUDD    &    CO,,    245    Broadway,    New-  York. 


HINTS  TO  HORSE-KEEPERS. 

A  COMPLETE 

MANUAL  FOH  HOESEMEU. 

By  the  Late   HENRY  WILLIAM   HERBERT, 

(FRANK    FOEKESTER.) 

BEAUTIFULLY     ILLUSTRATED. 

How  to  Breed  a  Horse.— Choice  of  Stallion— Choice  of  the  Mare— Mutual 
Adaptation  of  Sire  and  Dam— Canadian  Blood— Norman  Blood— Modern  Arab 
Blood. 

Ponies— Different  Breeds,  Characteristics  and  Utility.— Origin- 
Different  Breeds — Shetland!  and  (Scots — Galloways  and  Narragansetls Mustangs 

and  Indians— Profit  of  raising  Poiiies. 

How  to  Breed  Mules.— Value  of  Mules— Their  History  and  Natural  History— 
The  Mule  and  Hinney— Thorough-blood  wasted  in  the  Dam  for  Mules— The  Mule 
in  the  United  States— Large  size  not  Desirable— Varieties  of  the  Ass,  etc. 

How  to  Buy  a  Horse.— Of  whom  to  Buy  it— Extraordinary  Cheapness  and 
Extraordinary  Excellence  not  consistent  with  each  other— Points  to  be  regarded— 
How  to  Examine  the  Eye— Broken  Wind— Roaring— Whistling,  etc. 

How  to  Feed  a  Horse.— Conseauenccs  of  Improper  Feeding— Different  Food 
for  different  conditions— Food  for  the  Brood  Mare— for  the  Foal— For  Working- 
Horses— Green  Food— Carrots— Corn— Feeding  Horses  in  Training— While  Trav- 
eling—Summering Horses — Management  of  Omnibus  Horses  in  New- York. 

How  to  Stable  and  Groom  a  Horse.— Requisites  for  a  good  Stable— The 
economy  of  Proper  Arrangements — Ventilation — Grooming  ;  its  necessity  for 
all  descriptions  01  Horses — Treatment  when  brought  in  from  Work. 

How  to  Break,  and  Use  a  Horse.— What  is  required  in  a  -well-broken 
Horse-— His  education  should  commence  when  a  Colt— Bitting— Putting  in  Harness 
—How  to  Use  a  Horse— Traveling— Working— Pleasure  Horses— Punishment. 

How  to  Physic  a  Horse— SIMPLE  REMEDIES  FOR  SIMPLE  AILMENTS.— Causes 
of  Ailment* — Medicines  to  be  given  only  by  the  order  of  the  Master — Depletion 
and  Purging — Spasmodic  Colic— Inflammation  of  the  Bowels — Inflammation  of  the 
Lungs— How  to  Bleed— Balls  and  Purgatives— Costiveness— Cough,  etc. 

Farriery,  Etc.— Castration— Docking  and  Nicking— Blood-letting— Treatment  of 
Strains  and  Wounds— Galls  of  the  Skin— Cracked  Heels— Clipping  and  Singeing— 
Administering  Medicines— Diseases  of  the  Feet. 

How  to  Shoe  a  Horse.— Unskillful  Shoers— Anatomy  of  the  Food  Illustrated 
—The  Foot  of  a  Colt— Preparation  of  the  Foot— Removing  the  Old  Shoe— Paring 
the  Foot— The  Shoe— Fitting  the  Shoe— Nailing— Diseases  of  the  Foot. 

Baucher's  Method  of  Training  Horses.— What  Constitutes  a  Well- 
trained  Horse— To  make  him  come  at  your  call— The  Philosophy  of  Training- 
Flexions  of  the  Jaw— Flexions  of  the  Neck— Flexions  of  the  Croup— Backing,  etc. 

How  to  Ride  a  Horse.— The  Saddle— The  Girths— The  Stirrups— Saddlc- 
Cloths— The  Crupper— The  Martingale— The  Bridle — Spurs— Mounting  and  Dis- 
mounting—Hints for  Special  Cases— The  Art  of  Falling— Riding  with  Ladies. 

Ladies'  Riding:— WRITTEN  BY  A  LADY.— Learning  to  Ride — The  Side-saddle— 
The  Girths— The  Stirrup— The  Bridle— The  Martingale— The  Bit— The  Dress- 
Mounting  and  Dismounting— The  Position— The  Hands— The  Leg  and  Whip. 

How  to  Drive  a  Horse.— The  Art  of  Driving— Pleasure  Driving— How  to  Hold 
the  Reins— Driving  a  Pair— Four-in-hand  Driving— Plowing— Three-abreast. 

Rarey's  System  of  Horse-Taming.— Rarey's  System  a  New  Discovery- 
Previous  System— Principles  of  this  System— Instructions  for  Practicing  Rarey's 
Method— To  Stable  the  Horse— To  Approach  the  Horse— Tying  up  the  Leg— Lay- 
ing the  Horse  Down— Finale— Vices  and  Bad  Habits — Rearing— Kicking,  etc. 

Veterinary  Homeopathy.— Principles  of  the  System— Table  of  Remedies- 
General  Directions — Treatment  of  a  Sick  Animal— Glossary  of  Diseases. 
12mo,  425  pp. -Sent  by  mail  post-paid.  Si. 75. 

ORANGE   JUDD    &  ^COMPANY, 

245    Broadway,   New-York. 


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